Southfield At 50

ON THE COVER

Southfield Businesses

Choosing the
city for its many
strengths.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

S

outhfield has long been home to
many Jewish-owned businesses.
Prized for its central location,
proximity to the Jewish community and
great diversity, the city has drawn busi-
nesses of many varieties.
Some, like One Stop Kosher, Jerusalem
Pizza or Spitzer's Hebrew Books and Gifts,
cater primarily to the Jewish community
and pull people in from surrounding sub-
urbs. Others, like Franklin Athletic Club,
Michigan Chandelier and Mars Advertising
Co. Inc., do business from Southfield, but
touch all parts of the Detroit community.
What follows are business profiles for
just a sampling of the Jewish-owned busi-
nesses in Southfield.

the Honda showroom is named, went miss-
ing; she had been stolen. A little 8-year-old
girl called the Detroit Free Press, inquiring
about the elephant's whereabouts. She
explained that, whenever her family went
for a ride, she always knew she was close to
home when she saw the elephant.
"The Free Press referred her to Tamaroff
for information on Tammy. A fraternity
had taken her, as a lark, and deposited her
broken body across the street behind, what
was then, the Tel-12 Mall. Her tusk and
ear were broken; and she had to be taken
to the 'animal hospital, where her fiber-
glass parts were 'repaired! The little girl
and her mother were invited to Tamaroff
to see Tammy all mended and back on
duty and for a tour of the dealership.
"Tammy remains at her post on
Telegraph. We just tell our customers to look
for the red, white and blue elephant and they
know right where we are — in Southfield?"

What is your business best known for?
"Your 'one-stop, full-service' dealership, for
exceptional service from the purchase or
lease of your vehicle through servicing for
the lifetime of your car."

- Mary Tamaroff, founder/owner

Specs Howard:
Growing For The Future
Business name: Specs Howard School of
Broadcast Arts Inc.
Type of business: Postsecondary
Educational Institute
Address: 19900 W. Nine Mile, Southfield
Phone: (248) 358-9000; 866-61-SPECS
Web site: www.specshoward.edu

How long have you been in Southfield?
Since January 1970.

Mary Tamaroff

Tamaroff:
A Southfield Landmark
Business name: Tamaroff Motors Inc.
Type of business: New car sales & service
dealership
Address: 28585 Telegraph, Southfield
Phone: (248) 353-1300
Web site: support@tamaroff.com

How long in Southfield? 39 years

Share an anecdote about your business.
"The Tamaroff elephant has long been
a known landmark in Southfield; but it
wasn't until about 15 years ago that it really
rang true. Tammy, as the red, white and
blue elephant standing proudly in front of

A28

April 24 • 2008

.1N

Share an anecdote about your business.
"When I looked for a prime location for
the Specs Howard School, Southfield won
out over all other cities. Thirty-eight years
later, we are all still proud of our original
choice. Southfield also provided us with a
great group of business and professional
people who helped us grow our company:
attorneys, accountants, equipment suppli-
ers and more were all available. Names like
Stern, Rosen, Doren, Eisenberg and others
were all here. Thanks to the great city of
Southfield. Happy 50th anniversary!"

What is your business best known for?
"Over the past 38 years, we've trained more
than 12,000 graduates for rewarding and
fulfilling careers in virtually every facet of

we are easily accessible by expressways
from all the northern and eastern suburbs,
and from downtown Detroit.
"Over the years, Southfield has proven
to be a perfect home for the Ira Kaufman
Chapel. Our location in Southfield with its
easy access, plentiful parking and proximity
to Jewish cemeteries will be a prime loca-
tion for us for many, many years to come."

Jerry "Specs Howard" Liebman and his
son, Jonathan Liebman

radio and TV broadcasting and audio and
video production. We're especially excited
about our newest program in graphic
design, which will begin in the spring of
2008. It will also mark our first foray into
online learning?'

- Jerry "Specs" Liebman, chairman of the
board; Jonathan Liebman, president and CEO

Kaufman Chapel:
At 'The Center Of It All'
Name of business: Ira Kaufman Chapel
Type of business: Jewish funeral chapel
Address: 18325 W. Nine Mile, Southfield
Phone: (248) 569-0020
Web site: www.irakaufman.com

How long have you been in Southfield?
"We bought our Southfield property in
1957 and moved into the building in 1961.
"The motto of the city of Southfield is
`The Center of It All.' As it happens, that
was the major reason we chose to move
the Ira Kaufman Chapel in 1961 from
Detroit. When we started looking for the
ideal location, we wanted a large enough
site to build our 27,000-square-foot build-
ing and a sizeable parking lot to handle
overflow crowds and have easy in-and-out
access from the property. In addition, our
Southfield location had to be centrally
located to major Jewish cemeteries in the
region. We found it with our location on
Nine Mile.
"Southfield was where Jewish families
were moving at that time, so it became the
center of the Jewish population. Southfield
today has a large Jewish imprint. Back
in 1961, we could not have imagined the
slogan, 'The Center of It All, being so accu-
rate. Today, we mail out 70,000 yahrzeit
notices each year and a considerable num-
ber of those go to families in Southfield,
Oak Park and Huntington Woods.
"As well as being centrally located to
four of the five major Jewish cemeteries,

Share an anecdote about your business.
"Several years ago, we conducted the
funeral of the owner of a specialty elec-
tronics firm that sets up equipment at
concert venues for very well-known
rock bands. This turned out to be a very
untraditional ceremony, because mem-
bers of a major band actually performed
at the funeral, even writing a song for
him, in order to pay tribute in a manner
that would have been very meaningful.
Additionally, many of his friends arrived
on motorcycles. Can you imagine the sight:
about 50 motorcycles in the funeral pro-
cession? Southfield police helped us with
the traffic. About 600-700 people turned
out for his funeral. It was definitely an
unusual spectacle but, as we always say, a

Herb Kaufman

funeral is a celebration of life — and this
one certainly was."

What is your business best known for?
"At the Ira Kaufman Chapel, we are rec-
ognized for our quality and service. With
more than 50 percent of Jewish funerals
across the country today being conducted
by corporate-owned conglomerates, we are
very proud to be a family-owned, inde-
pendent business that does not answer to
a board of directors or shareholders — in
fact, the only 'board and shareholders' we
answer to are the Jewish community and
the families we serve."

- Herb Kaufman, president and co-owner

the Ira Kaufman Chapel

