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Despite PETA and
warm weather,
Jewish furriers are
resilientt and ready
for a rebound.
BY EDITH BRO1DA
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
re Jewish furriers an endan-
gered species?
FR Possibly.
T.
Are Jewish furriers wor-
ried? Not really.
Despite the shrinking
numbers of Jewish furriers
in the metropolitan area,
those who still practice
their craft are far from
frantic. They have found
a comfortable niche and
are philosophical about the de-
mographics and trends that have
changed their industry.
They share a common story:
small, family-centered businesses
located mostly in downtown De-
troit, growing success as post-war
prosperity brought second-gen-
eration sons into the business,
and then relocation in the sub-
urbs as downtown floundered.
Arthur Bricker is typical. A
man with a profound love of the
fur industry, he elected to join the
family business despite formal
training in law and accounting.
His father, Jacob, later known as
Jack, originally was a meat-
cutter in a Bessarabian shtetl.
When the czar began recruiting
an army, he traveled on foot to
Rotterdam, boarding a cattle boat
to voyage to America.
Jack Bricker's fur career began
in New York, where he butchered
rabbits to make a living. Labor
unrest in New York led him to
Detroit, where his brothers had
moved earlier and, in 1916, had
opened a fur business on Grand
River in downtown Detroit. (It
remained there for 45 years be-
fore relocating to West Bloom-
field.) George Tunis, a Bricker
partner, retired three years ago
but still frequently lends his ex-
pertise, and the name Bricker-
Tunis remains. Jack Bricker
died in 1984 at the age of 95. His
son, though, is still well-en-
sconced, comfortable and happy
with the business.
Sol Ceresnie, who died five
years ago, was another pioneer
in the Detroit fur business.
He and his brother Harry
opened their first store on Dex-
ter. The Ceresnies were to stay
in Detroit for 45 years, eventu-
ally relocating on Livern.ois' "Av-
enue of Fashion" in 1953.
Ceresnie Brothers became Furs
by Ceresnie and Offen when Sam
Offen, a survivor of the Mau-
thausen concentration camp,
gave up the fur shop he had
bought from Phil Bricker in 1955.
Two of the four Ceresnie sons,
Michael and Glen, joined up in
the mid-1970s. The fur business
was booming, and more help was
needed. "I was at Wayne State
University at that time," Glen re-
calls, "and we were tripling in
size. It was an opportunity worth
taking."
Today, the senior Ceresnie
says his Birmingham shop is a
haven for retired furriers. In ad-
dition to Sam, there is Martin
Malter, who closed his West
Bloomfield store in 1989.
Mr. Maker, too, is the descen-
dant of a furrier. His father,
Michael, was a "master furrier"
in Berlin. According to his son,
this designation required an ap-
prenticeship of "long hours, dirty
jobs and difficult exams."
Because his mother was
American, Martin and his broth-
er, Henry, were able to come to
the United States in 1939; his fa-
ther followed in 1940.
Michael Maker began a whole-
sale fur business in New York,
but intense competition led to his
starting again in De-
Mike Ceresnie:
troit, opening his first
A family business. store on Quincy and
Grand River. In 1943
he moved to McNichols. By then,
Martin and Henry were in the
Army.
The brothers were, in turn,
taught by the master. It was a
challenging experience. "Believe
me," Martin says, "it is much
more difficult when your father
is your teacher."
The Malters left the city in
1967. Martin believes he was the
first furrier to move out of the
city, pioneering at Southfield's
Harvard Row.
Robert Roberts' story is simi-
lar to the Bricker-Ceresnie-Mal-
ter history. His grandfather,
Joseph Rosenberg, emigrated
from the Russia-Poland area in
1892. A tailor by training, he left
New York to open a raw-skin
business, Rosenberg Brothers,
on Jefferson Avenue. His sons
continued in the business.
In 1954, the family moved the
store to Madison Avenue, at one
time employing 85. The 1940s
and 1950s were banner years.
Eventually, the brothers es-
tablished showrooms in Birming-
ham and Grosse Pointe, and 25
years ago they located at the
then-new Somerset Mall.
Today, Furs by Robert is one
of three Birmingham furriers.
Another furrier who repre-
sents a third generation is Robert
Mann, whose present store is in
Bloomfield Hills.
Mr. Mann, whose clientele fol-
lowed him from downtown De-
troit to Southfield, says his own
career began when he was 13
years old. His grandfather, Mor-
ris, was known as "Herr Mann
the Furrier" in Austria. His
father, Charlie, came to Amer-
ica, worked as a furrier in New
York, and then settled in Detroit
in the 1930s, establishing a shop
at Woodward and Farmer.
Robert Mann moved the busi-
ness to Southfield in 1978 and cr,
then relocated in Bloomfield Hills •
ti
last year.
Harvey Kozin got started "as
a kid around 1949." His grand-
father, Louis, came to America
at the age of 13, already with the
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