Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Januzzi's Easter Ad – March 26, 1954

Januzzi's
is one of those iconic Lorain businesses that longtime residents of the city, especially Baby Boomers, remember fondly. 

Above is an Easter-themed ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on March 26, 1954. I like the chicken and her cute chicks holding hands wings, a nice alternative to the omnipresent rabbits in Easter ads.

I've mentioned before that we shopped at all the shoes stores in the area, including those at Midway Mall, O'Neil – Sheffield Center, Pic-way in South Lorain and Januzzi's.

How long had Januzzi's been around? An article in the October 8, 1980 Journal noted, "Tomorrow marks the 55th year in business for Enrico Januzzi, founder of the Januzzi chain of shoe stores in Lorain and Elyria. Now 79 years young, he began in 1925 – before Lindberg crossed the Atlantic – by repairing shoes in the basement of his home at 506 W. 28th St., Lorain. He also worked in the then National Tube plant. He moved the business to Broadway and 29th in 1933 and in 1949 began selling new shoes. 

"Today there are three generations of Januzzis managing this family business.

"Today there are Januzzi stores on Broad Street in Elyria, in the Oakwood Shopping Center and the main "Professional Shoe Fitting" headquarters at 26th and Broadway, a location chosen in 1940."

The business eventually moved out to the Sheffield Center on Route 254 in 1981, becoming Januzzi's Select-A-Shoe with name brand footwear at budget prices, a "rack store with customers waiting on themselves," according to Carmen Januzzi at the time.

Today, the Januzzi brand lives on in Amherst at Januzzi's Footwear Solutions.

The former Januzzi's store on Broadway today

2 comments:

Buster said...

The claws on those chicks look like they might be hard to fit, shoe-wise.

Anonymous said...

I can see why Januzzi's moved from that location on 26th & Broadway to Rte 254.If that area was bad in 1981 it really has to be bad now some 40 odd years later.I remember going to the 254 store with my mom and grandmother.