Photo by Glenn Triest
At 85, Julius
Stobinsky can't
get away from
the produce
business.
The Apple Man
SUSAN KNOPPOW SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ulius Stobinsky walks over
to a little boy hanging on his
mother's shopping cart in
the fruit department at
Berkley's Westborn Market.
"You like apples?" he
asks.
The child looks up at the
small man in his white cap
and blue jacket, and then
shyly looks away.
"I'll give you a nice apple,"
Mr. Stobinsky says, offering
a shiny one from the top of
the display.
The boy smiles, reaches
for the apple and takes a
bite.
To those who've known
him throughout his 70-year
career in Detroit's produce
business, Julius Stobinsky
is indeed "the apple man."
At 85, he no longer makes
daily trips to the Eastern
Market before dawn. In-
stead, he can be found near
the raspberry display at
Westborn around 9 a.m. on
most Friday and Saturday
mornings. He will work at
the Berkley location for a
few more weeks until the
weather gets too cold.
He plans to return in the
spring. Despite his age,
retirement doesn't seem to
be an option even though
he's tried twice to retire in
the last 20 years.
As an employee and owner
of several produce markets
since he came to Detroit
from Russia in 1921, Mr.
Stobinsky has long been a
fixture in Detroit's world of
fruits and vegetables. His
list of accomplishments
range from operating fruit
stands in other markets to
co-ownership of a chain of
King Cole grocery stores
and Jule's Fruit Market in
Detroit.
But by the early 1970s,
Mr. Stobinsky had had
enough. He finished his last
day of work at Jule's, hung
up his grocer's apron and
retired.
That is, until his old
friend George Anusbigian
called from Westborn
Market in Dearborn.
"Do me a favor," Mr.
Stobinsky recalls him ask-
ing, "I need a man. It's just
temporary." What was "just
temporary" 16 years ago
still keeps him busy.
Mark Anusbigian, Geor-
ge's son, has known Mr. Sto-
binsky since before the
veteran produce seller came
to work for his father.
"The excitement and the
expertise he can add to a
place is tremendous," he
says, explaining that their
oldest employee does more