'It's A Trying Time And We're Making The Best Of It'

MERRICK, NY — Michael Freiser and his wife Debbie have owned and operated Yussel's Place — a specialty store in Merrick that focuses on Judaica, religious materials and Jewish gifts — for decades. But the coronavirus shutdowns hit them like a one-two punch.

First, because their business was non-essential, they were forced to shut down for months. On top of that, the months-long shutdown of religious services also affected their business.

"This is the kind of business that's very tactile. It's a walk-in trade," Michael Freiser said. "People come in to purchase, to browse."

The Freisers opened Yussel's Place in 1986, and are located on Merrick Avenue. The store offers services for weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and other religious services. But with religious services canceled for so long in New York, people were forced to push back all of their milestones as well.

Prayer shawls for bar and bat mitzvahs are a big part of his business, Freiser said. Their store was voted No. 1 in New York for prayer shawl purchases by The Forward, a Jewish newspaper that has been reporting for more than a century.

Luckily for the Freisers, they don't get all of their business from walk-in clients. They make sales online as well, and that part of their business continued during the shutdown. Michael said that he and his wife would come in once a week to package and ship their online orders.

After two and a half months closed, Freiser said the store was able to reopen. They are following strict social distancing guidelines, though: only two or three customers are allowed in areas of the store at a time, and everyone must wear masks and sanitize their hands when they enter.

"We're getting traffic now," he said. "There are more people that are out and about. We still do a lot of curbside orders and fulfilling it that way. It's a trying time and we're making the best of it."

Though the past few months have been tough, Freiser said that he and his wife, who are both 68, are doing their best to keep the doors open. They don't just see their store as a business, but as a service to Nassau County's Jewish community. "We fill a lot of different interests and needs," he said.

Though business is slow, people are restarting their plans, Freiser said. They're starting to get people coming in to get materials for weddings — usually a small service in someone's yard, with a big party planned for next year.

"It's not the end of the world for us," said Freiser. "People still need things. It's a lot more work for us, but that's ok"