Old Business, New Business BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
A century-old hardware store and a new child-care
service showcase the best of Kings County commerce
Brooklyn’s unique mainstay businesses
and its blossoming new
ventures are confi rmation that
the County of Kings is a breeding
ground for inspiration when it comes
to commercial opportunity.
The borough’s diverse mom-andpop
shops are a nod to the melting pot
of residents that inhabit its vast, urban
terrain.
Nurturing those operations are of
signifi cant importance to Borough
President Adams, who opened a smallbusiness
mentoring center at Brooklyn
Borough Hall two years ago that
he said has helped local entrepreneurs
achieve their dreams ever since.
“Brooklyn Borough Hall has become
a true hub for small business
development in my administration,”
Borough President Adams said. “I
will continue to leverage my offi ce’s
resources, including capital dollars
targeted at improving workforce development
and neighborhood infrastructure,
to ensure the mom-and-pop
business always have a bright future
to look forward to in our borough.”
Read on to learn about two such
business, one recently opened and the
other serving Brooklyn for decades:
TARZIAN HARDWARE, CA. 1921
This Park Slope hardware shop is a
family affair.
The owners of Tarzian Hardware,
on Seventh Avenue, spent the last
century supplying locals with tools
and other goods to make their houses
homes.
Brothers Charlie and Marty Tarzian
founded the shop in 1921, and ran
it for decades before passing the reins
to Charlie’s son, Henry, who expanded
the operation and relocated the store
to its current Seventh Avenue location,
just a few doors down from where the
original stood.
Henry’s wife, Paula, worked alongside
him to grow the store, debuting
such new additions as Tarzian’s Lawn
and Garden Department in 1992.
Today, the step-grandson of founder
Charlie holds the reins, after taking
an ownership stake in the store back
in 1996.
But the current proprietor would
not have risen to his position atop the
company were it not for his early days
as an employee on the fl oor, stocking
shelves and developing a deep familiarity
with its products, he said.
“Getting control of our inventory
was a big key to our success,” said
John Ciferni. “What’s changed is that
we started doing things in a more, effi -
cient modern way and hiring people to
help with that.”
30 ONE BROOKLYN | SPRING 2019
Brothers Charlie and Marty Tarzian founded their Seventh Avenue hardware store, seen here on the
left in the early ’90s, way back in 1921. The shop, seen on the right earlier this decade, expanded
over the years to include new services, such as its Lawn and Garden Department. Tarzian Hardware
The third-generation owner, however,
is the last remaining relative in
the multi-generational business, but
the shop still retains its strong commitment
to family values, he said.
“We focus on giving good customer
service and helping people with their
projects,” Ciferni said. “We want to
guide them with whatever they need
and make things convenient for the
neighborhood.”
Tarzian Hardware 193 Seventh
Ave. between Second and Third streets
in Park Slope, (718) 788–4120, tarzianhardware.
com. Open seven days a
week, from 9 am to 6:30 pm.
KIDS CLUB, CA. 2019
A new free website makes it easy
for borough parents to connect for play
dates and fi nd other willing moms and
dads to watch their kids, according
to its Brooklyn-based creators, who
sought the help of dozens of experts to
put their platform together.
“We met with 100 families from
‘Bococa’ and developed a website we
thought would meet their child-care
and early education needs for free,”
said Manisha Snoyer, using the portmanteau
to refer to Boerum Hill, Cobble
Hill, and Carroll Gardens.
Parents who sign up to host one play
date a month on the new Kids Club site
in exchange receive unlimited access to
a calendar of other get-togethers hosted
by moms and dads living nearby, which
include a healthy number of “movie
night and pizza” gatherings, along with
arts-and-crafts sessions, board-game
playing, egg painting, cooking and baking,
and even a “develop your mindfulness
super power” workshop, which
Snoyer described as a sort of pint-sized
wellness retreat.
“It’s a combination of meditation
and yoga,” she said.
Would-be hosts can also fork over
$50 to $100 and submit to a criminal
background check to assure other
moms and dads of their ability, according
to Snoyer, who said parents are encouraged
to swap kids with folks they
know.
Still, some do leave their tots with
people they haven’t met, but in those
instances, participants typically bond
over their shared experience of, well,
being parents, the Kids Club creator
said.
“We’ve had people book play dates
with parents they haven’t met already,
but generally their kids are the same
age, or go to the same school,” she
said.
Carroll Gardens resident Rima
Khusainova dropped her 5-year-old,
Yuri, off with a stranger she met on the
website earlier this month, and everything
worked out great — despite her
husband’s skepticism — she said.
“He’s French and very skeptical
about everything,” she said. “But the
lady who hosted it was so nice and
sweet.”
More than 80 families from across
the borough joined the service since it
launched earlier this month, Snoyer
said, and she believes that even more
residents will take advantage of Kids
Club to avoid the burden of paying for
babysitters, who can charge moms and
dads more than $20 an hour, according
to a New York Family report .
“Babysitting can cost up to 20 percent
of a family’s income, or more,”
said Snoyer. “This will help them
meet their child care and early education
needs for free.”
To fi nd a supervised childrens’ play
date near you, visit www.kidsclub.io.
Kids Club founder Manisha
Snoyer showed off the website
for the child-care network she
founded earlier this year.
Photo by Trey Pentecost
/www.kidsclub.io
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
/www.kidsclub.io
/www.kidsclub.io
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
/www.kidsclub.io