Kositchek's celebrates 150 years

LANSING - Mark Benjamin plucked two ties from amid a rainbow of stripes, paisleys, diamonds in different shades of purples, blues, reds, browns and pinks arrayed on a round wooden table.

He selected shirts to accompany the charcoal gray suit his customer was trying on, moving fluidly, effortlessly, picking up what he instinctively knew would complement and complete the ensemble.

His customer didn't need to do a thing. That's the level of service you'll always find at Kositchek's. And not many other places.

"I'd say one of the distinct keys to our longevity and continued level of success that we've been lucky enough to achieve is the level of kindness and service," said owner David Kositchek. "And we do it with a sense of warmth."

The store's longevity is longer than most. Kositchek's has been in the menswear business for 150 years. David Kositchek is the fourth generation of his family to run the business.

"If you're talking about over 150 years, its got to be less than one half of one percent (of all businesses.) Or even less than that," said Vicki TenHaken, a professor of management at Hope College in Holland. "It's a minute fraction of the companies that are in business right now. So it's pretty special to have made it."

'It started with a wagon'

Henry Kositchek, David Kositchek's great-grandfather, started what became Kositchek's in Eaton Rapids in 1865.

"We can only speculate, but from the stories I've heard from Dave's older family members and his father, it started with a wagon," said Matt McLeod, the store's general manager. "Henry sold his wares going door to door."

A short history of the Kositchek family written by W. Scott Munn in the book "The Only Eaton Rapids on Earth," published in 1952, said Henry came to the United States from a German-speaking area of what is now the Czech Republic with his younger sister and her husband. Henry's parents, Solomon and his wife, and his younger brother, Max, came a couple of years later.

Munn's grandmother told him stories of buying goods from young Henry. She said he carried a pack on his back while he walked through the country, selling his merchandise to rural housewives.

He seems to have traveled as far as Lansing.

"This was during pioneer days, in the 1800s, in Eaton Rapids," McLeod said, "Even though today it seems like the cities are pretty close, Eaton Rapids and Lansing, that's quite a distance to travel by horse and buggy."

Some years afterward, Kositchek isn't sure how many, Henry got a brick and mortar store at 141 S. Main St., the current location of Pettit Hardware. The book says the family opened a dry goods store in the early 1870s and, in 1882, when a similar business called Tuomey Bros. moved to Jackson, they purchased the building and moved the stock there.

Later, they opened up a clothing business, operating all of their concerns under the name of H. Kositchek and Bros. The family was known for being dependable, Munn wrote, and standing behind their merchandise.

"As you look in some of the Eaton Rapids history, it talks about Henry's store and that his family had built some homes there," said McLeod. "They lived there, and there was actually a time where they kept a store in Eaton Rapids and had the store here. I've got some advertising pieces that say Lansing and Eaton Rapids. It indicates there were two stores."

The oldest picture they have of the store in Lansing is from 1869. The address was 113 N. Washington Ave.

Henry and his wife, Bella, lived downtown at 514 N. Capitol Ave., which is right about where Lansing Community College's Dart Auditorium sits, in a house built by Darius Moon. Kositchek still has the correspondence between Moon and his great-grandfather.

At one time, there were two stores on Washington Avenue, the men's store and the millinery store "where the women's fabrics, hats, and things geared more toward the lady were," said McLeod. "I don't know how long it was there, when they merged and were put into one storefront."

Tracing the store's history has been an imprecise effort, a process of guesswork often based on photographs and century-old advertisements and family stories.

"We try to be fairly accurate, but some of it is speculation," said Kositchek. "When it goes back 150 years, it's hard. There's nobody here to straighten this out."

'An easy transition'

David's grandfather Louis Kositchek joined the business around 1905, and upon the death of Henry in 1925, Louis took over as president of Kositchek's. Upon the death of Louis in 1975, Richard Kositchek took over the business. Now, David is at the helm.

David Kositchek started working in the store at age 12, in the Scout department.

"I loved working with my dad and my grandpa," he said. He was tearing up. "That was probably the greatest gift that I've had in my life, that opportunity to work with them both. They were kind and gentle and were very happy and eager to show me how to be a good merchant."

Kositchek's mother, Ruth Kositchek, 96, said David always knew he was going to work at the store. It was not even a second thought.

"This was an easy transition for him. He loved his grandfather and worked with him and then his father, too. He was like David and David was like his father. My husband was just a very fine, gentle man and a gentleman."

McLeod started working for David's parents 40 years ago when he was 15, doing their yard work. They spent many Saturdays and Sundays together and they would talk. As the years went by, he had the opportunity to work in the stock room at Kositchek's, breaking down boxes or doing whatever he could. He attended Michigan State University and stayed on throughout his college years.

"Mr. Kositchek made the statement one day, that if I was every really serious about working in the store, certainly there was an opportunity for me," said McLeod.

Shortly after graduating from MSU in the early 1980s, he took a job with an insurance company in Kalamazoo working in their marketing department. He hated it. It was winter, and David's parents were in Florida, but he called Richard Kositchek.

"He said 'Call David and tell him you start Monday.' I knew David just from growing up around the home, but I didn't really didn't know him. I didn't know anybody here. I just showed up. I think it kind of startled a lot of the people who work here because I just showed up. That was how Dave's dad was. He just had a way about him that was very soft and gentle, but effective."

"Thirty-plus years later, I know I made the right decision," said McLeod.

After his father died in 1997, Kositchek wasn't sure about his future in the business.

"I really thought twice about going forward," said Kositchek. "And I'm not ashamed to say that. But with Matt's encouragement, we picked up the mantle and looked at the challenges that laid ahead, and we've done it together. I'm fortunate to have Matt McLeod with me to run this business."

McLeod says they formulated a plan and they stuck to it.

"Because of that friendship, we've been able to bring the whole team that we had back then, when my father was alive, we've been able to have that same team with us today," said Kositchek. "And that team, more than myself, and more than Matt, deserves the credit. We steer the ship, but it's Mark (Benjamin) and Carl (Dorman) and Jerry (McBrien) and Gary (Johnson) and Lori (Froh) who's been here 35 years and runs our shoe department and also works for our company. And Gary (Geisen), who owns Leon G Jewelers, but runs our jewelry department and also works for our company. They are the ones who are the ambassadors. That work hard every day. We're a tight little staff but everybody shares in the responsibility of making sure the customer is taken care of properly."

Marking big events

"My first real lengthy experience at Kositchek's was when several of us who worked on the Engler campaign went to buy tuxes for the Engler inaugural," said John Truscott, president of Truscott-Rossman, a Lansing public relations firm.

"We were in the gubernatorial transition at the time so Kositchek's stayed open late for us, because we had no time to shop during the day. We went in late in the evening and they outfitted all of us. I think they had crackers and cheese and wine and everything. They really rolled out the red carpet."

He remembers always wanting to go to Kositchek's because his grandfather shopped there and when he was alive, had several suits and blazers from the store. The quality of the goods they carry and the service have kept him coming back.

On a typical day, Kositchek and McLeod will greet customers by name, and with a smile. The two have worked together for more than 30 years. They finish each other's sentences without even realizing it.

As customers shop, smooth jazz plays softly as background music. There are butter soft leather attache cases and silk scarves. Beautifully displayed ties are encased in glass showcases and on tables. Historical photos grace the walls. And a large framed photograph of the storefront in the late 1800s shows a hitching post where parking meters are today.

It could be a men's store in Chicago, even New York.

"One of the things I love about Kositchek's is I don't see my clothes all over the place," said James Butler, director of urban revitalization for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

When he moved to Lansing from Washington, D.C., he was a branch manager for IBM, which was across the street from Kositchek's. Soon, Butler was frequenting the store for a tie, shirt, shoes, and they developed a relationship that is going strong 30 years later.

"There are a lot of things that I perhaps would have never bought, but because of their credibility and eye for fashion," Butler said.

"They give you some of the best service, I mean in the country, not just in Lansing."

Butler and McLeod have a phrase they've come to use.

"I tell them I would like to get a 'clicker tie'," Butler said, explaining that a clicker tie is the sort of tie that will draw so many compliments, you will need a clicker to keep up.

"They know exactly what I'm saying," he said. "Or they will pick up the phone and call me and say 'James, we have a tie for you and 99 percent of the time, it is a clicker tie.'"

Kositchek stresses that he and McLeod run the business together.

"Most everyone has been here 35 years or more," said Kositchek. "The youngest tenure has been here 11 or 12 years. Most of our seven tailors have been here 25 plus years.

At age 63, Kositchek is in the store most days. But it doesn't seem like a job, he says. "They're like family to me," said Kositchek."

Changing with the times

Going back to the '50s and '60s, or even the '80s, the average age of the customer coming through the door was somewhere on either side of 50, Kositchek says.

That's changed. They are seeing many more customers in the 18-to-35 age range.

"The world is more transient today," said McLeod. "We see so many new people where years ago you often times had the same people walking through your front door. Today, thankfully, we don't know everybody who walks through the front door, but we do get to know them."

They still carry better clothing, but they carry a wider range.

"We are able to take care of a young person entering the workforce at the $395 price point," said Kositchek. "We're also able to take care of the executive who's looking for fine Italian clothing that reaches over $2,000. And we have a lot in between. So we're able to take care of a wide range of tastes."

They have made a concerted effort to carry luxury products that people cannot find elsewhere, and that, Kositchek says, is where the store's greatest growth is coming from.

"Kositchek's is the best men's clothing store in the country," said Joel Ferguson, president of Ferguson Development, co-founder of F&S Development and chairman of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.

Ferguson has been shopping there for more than 45 years, ever since he got out of the Marine Corps and could afford to buy a suit.

"The quality, everything. Personal service is not a slogan, it's real. If something is too big, they alter it. And the staff is very good. Everything is first class."

Over the years, Kositchek's has blossomed into what can be called a small men's department store.

There is a full-service hair salon for men and women, which does manicures and pedicures. Leon G Jewelers moved into the store in 2008. They recently began carrying Shinola watches. They're putting in a fine leather goods department.

"People come in and they get their hair cut, they get their suit, they get their shoes shined, they buy new shoes, they find their jewelry here," said Kositchek. "We take care of them from top to bottom. We're really a small specialty department store. Which is unusual today."

To be successful in business today, Kositchek says it has to be a lot more than a paycheck, it has to be a passion. That's the key.

"It has to be done with true integrity and caring. Sounds easy, but to do it on a daily basis, it's got to come from the heart," he said. "If it's contrived, you'll hit or miss. But when it's really part of who you are and what your company's evolved to, then you'll do it with consistency."

Years ago, Kositchek and his parents would go to Win Schuler's restaurant in Marshall. Schuler, who was a customer at Kositchek's, was always out on the floor, greeting people, Kositchek said. Even if he only saw you once a year, he would remember your name.

"I've never forgotten that," said Kositchek. "He was really one of the kings of hospitality, I would say."

Today, Kositchek is always on the floor greeting customers, making sure they're taken care of properly. For customers to come in and have someone know their names when they walk through the front doors is a special gift, he said.

David has that same gift of remembering names, McLeod says. "David's father was always present when he was here," he said. "He would be on the floor greeting people."

"People want to be appreciated, and we strongly believe in hugging the customer. By that, I mean that you take care of their parking meter, you take their packages out to the car. You just go the extra mile for people. That's the difference, and that's what has allowed us to continue and grow."

A celebration

To celebrate the 150th anniversary, Kositchek's hosted an open house for its customers and the community in October. A book on the history of the store was on display. A band played. There was food and drinks. Kositchek, McLeod and the rest of the team greeted everyone, sometimes with handshakes, sometimes with hugs.

Kositchek's mother, Ruth, celebrated her 96th birthday there. The band played "Happy Birthday to You." His sister, Bobbie, came from Chicago.

Kositchek was surprised by a visit from Geneva Kebler Whiskemann, who presented him with a book of Jewish prayers in Hebrew, printed in Vienna in 1840. It belonged to Solomon Kositchek, David's great-great-grandfather.

It was Kositchek's first time meeting Whiskemann.

"She is a retired archivist from what she told me," said Kositchek. The book was in the library of her husband, who is deceased. "She just felt it belonged to me, that it was something that our family should have. We will treasure it."

Its delicate pages showed just how old it was. And true to Kositchek's form, rather than tuck it safely away, David displayed it on the counter so that others could share in his delight.

"It's not complicated," Kositchek said. "If you do this purely out of a business perspective, just to ring the register, that's not what speaks to the heart. What speaks to the heart is making sure people feel welcome."

Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 or vdozier@lsj.com . Follow her on Twitter @vickkiD .