10 MARCH 9 - MARCH 15, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
After 110 years, Ridge shoe store closes
Clark believes the store's closing
will leave a gap in the neighborhood.
“I hope Bay Ridge misses a place like
this,” he added. “It’s sad. Seth was a pioneer
for his time. He was very active in
the old Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Board
of Trade. When we formed the BID,
he was right there, enthusiastically
supported it and served on the board
of directors.”
Nonetheless, he said, Kruchkow
thought it was time to retire.
“I know he has mixed feelings,” he
said. “He was tired and it was time.
No one else in his family wanted the
business.”
Finally, a CD rate that's
easy to warm up to.
4 Year IRA CD
2.25%
APY* $500 MINIMUM DEPOSIT
Available only at branch locations.
Visit us at www.ridgewoodbank.com, in branch
or call (877) 417-6547 for details.
BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
A Bay Ridge fixture has said
goodbye after over a century
in business.
Kruchkow’s Shoe Store, 7808 Fifth
Avenue, has shut up shop.
Behind the pulled-down gates, the
signs read, “Closed” and “To all our
loyal customers, thank you for 110
wonderful years.”
The store was family-owned and
most recently run by Seth Kruchkow,
who had been active with the
Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business
Improvement District (BID) for
many years.
“The store has been around for
so many years. I have purchased
many of my shoes there myself,”
James Clark, a member of the board
of directors of the BID, said. “It was the
last of the old-time shoe stores where
you got waited on and your shoe was fitted.
They just got tired. I’m sad to see it
go. Now you have to buy your shoes by
mail or you have to go over to the mall
and fit your own shoes at times and you
never know if you have the right size.”
*Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is as of January 13, 2018, and is subject to change without notice.
Maximum deposit is $250,000. FDIC regulations apply. The bank is not responsible for typographical
errors. Substantial penalties for early withdrawal. Fees could reduce earnings.
Member FDIC.
Vice President of the BID Basil Capetanakis,
who said that Kruchkow's
wife "was running the store towards
the end,” blamed the rise of internet
commerce for mom-and-pop shops
like Kruchkow’s closing.
“That’s the problem. The young
people, they all shop on the internet,”
he said. “They are having difficulty
because of that. I tell you, it’s a pity.
But, what are you going to do? These
are the facts of life now.”
Like Clark, Capetanakis told this
paper that the Kruchkow family had
said it was time to call it quits.
“They figured it was time to retire,”
he said. "It’s a pity because it was a
great store throughout the years
with wonderful people to deal with.
But sometimes, things change. I don’t
know if it’s for the better or worse, but
they change.”
President of the Scandinavian East
Coast Museum and local preservationist
Victoria Hofmo concurred.
“I’m sad they’re closing,” she said.
“110 years is amazing and quite a legacy.
It's one thing to open a business but it’s
another thing to keep it going for so
long.”
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Jaime DeJesus
Kruchkow’s Shoe Store has shut up shop
after 110 years.