Family Ties Lead to Long Life for Downtown Businesses

What do a shoe repair store, nursery, pawn shop, dry cleaners and sporting goods store have in common?

Besides the makings of a corny riddle, this group also makes up some of San Rafael's oldest retail merchants, each bound by family.

The blight of empty downtown storefronts may remind folks that economic woes persist, but these "elder statesmen" businesses, Marelli Bros., West End Nursery, The Pawn Advantage Store, Marin Cleaners and T & B Sports, have been able to ply their trades in the city for decades, thanks in large part to generational values at their core.

"We try to be fair with everybody, you know, straight up and not push it too much," said Ron Marelli, part of the third fraternal generation to run Marelli Bros. shoe repair. "Probably because we're family and have grown up with it."

Marelli's grandfather, Charlie Marelli, and his brother, Louie, began the business, a traditional family trade, in 1921 after arriving in San Rafael from northern Italy. In the 1960s, the shop was passed to their sons who handed the reins over to their own sons several years ago.

Ron Marelli, 54, a San Rafael resident,  along with brothers, Dave, 57, and Dennis, 58, said the store was a constant among men in his family.

"My father, Robert, worked here pretty much his whole life until he died" three years ago at 81, he said. "He'd still come in at five o'clock in the morning."

Marelli said the brothers were equal partners in most everything, each adept at sewing, fixing rips, repairing heels and lining on shoes and other items including purses, luggage and baseball gloves. They also do repairs for department stores including Nordstrom, Macy's and Red Wing.

He said outside of moving the shop one space over thirty years ago to their current 2,000-square-foot location at 1318 Fourth St., not much has changed. Some sewing machines are the same his grandfather used 70 years ago as is the granny wheel, a long motorized shaft of 10 spinning wheels used to grind heels, constantly humming within the close-knit work space. They even rent from the same family as his grandfather did.

Pat Kendall of San Rafael, waiting to pick up a repair, said she had been a customer "for as long as I can remember.

"They're just good people with great service," she said. "It's a real San Rafael place."

Marelli said their annual revenue is about $300,000.

"This area has a lot of people with expensive shoes so they don't just toss them," Marelli said. "Shoes have gotten cheaper and become disposable, but there are still a lot of folks who buy quality stuff to keep us going. We've stayed fairly steady, (but) it's not something you get rich at."

Across the road, brothers Jeff and Mike Brusati were second generation family owners of T & B Sports, offering athletic mercantile of varying needs for more than half a century.

Jeff Brusati said his father, Romolo Brusati, a cowboy and athlete who was on the St. Mary's College Cotton Bowl football team in 1939, had a few bucks after the war and opened "Taveggia & Brusati Sport and Saddle Shop" in 1946 along with his cousin, Tony Taveggia, as a silent partner.

"In the early days it was fun to sell that western stuff," said Brusati, 53, of San Rafael. "That's just kind of the way it was back then."

The store name evolved as the western side of the business was phased out in the mid-1980s following an "Urban Cowboy" last hurrah, he said.

"We just focused our efforts as the explosion of athletics took off for us," said Brusati. The Terra Linda High School graduate took over from his father who died in 1978. Mike Brusati, who was attending Terra Linda at the time, joined later. 

"The family aspect plays into" business success as well as a stable of longtime employees, he said. "People know that you're dealing with Mike and Jeff and their staff."

The company moved across the street some years ago to its 1345 Fourth St. location. The company opened a Santa Rosa store in 1982 that moved into a 20,000-square-foot space two years ago. Brusati has seen the number of employees grow from five to 37 between the two stores. His son, Anthony, is among them.

The business backbone these days, he said, is customized athletic uniforms for schools, youth groups and colleges, with much of the work done at their Santa Rosa site.

Brusati said they have put even more focus on service as the business climate has changed.

"A lot of the people we deal with are volunteers such as equipment managers and school coaches," he said. "We try to become their equipment person by extension to help make their jobs easier."

Brusati declined to provide revenue information.

They have managed to weather recent down years, he said.

"We do feel hits like everybody else," Brusati said. "Quite frankly, I think we're blessed because of the category we're in. You walk around with holes in your shoes before your kid doesn't have a glove for Little League."

Down the road at West End Nursery, Tom Untermann watched his business celebrate a centennial as a third-generation family owner with the peace of knowing a fourth was in place.

Untermann, a U.C. Davis grad, has toiled at the nursery started in 1909 by his great uncle, Karl Untermann, since he was a kid. He was pleased his son, Chris, came aboard in the late 90s.

"A business like this requires a lot of time," said Untermann, who has owned the nursery at 1938 Fifth Ave. with his wife, Mary, since 1985. "I like the business. We have really nice customers. I enjoy coming to work and am doing what I want. Having my son as the fourth generation, I can leave whenever I want and feel comfortable."

He said the 10-employee operation earned an annual revenue of $2.5 million.

Inside the main building on the two-acre site, Untermann pointed to a series of old-time photoes including a horse and buggy ("our first delivery vehicle") and barren hills that made up San Rafael in 1908 "when we were the center of the city." He pointed out the window to the house practically next door where he grew up and next door to where his son now lives.

Rick Wells, CEO of the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, said such older businesses "have clearly demonstrated an ability to deliver a valuable product or service to the Marin community for decades.

"Many longterm businesses are surviving these challenging times because of their exceptional customer service and deep connection to the community, which creates a loyal customer base," he said.

Nancy Mackle, the city's economic development director, said in order for businesses to have such long tenures, they had to be adabtible "with the times and the community."

 Mackle, who estimated the city had more than 6,000 businesses, said keeping doors open in this uncertain climate required "exceptional customer service and deep connection to the community which creates a loyal customer base."

Alan Hyman, owner of The Pawn Advantage Store at 846 Fourth St., had thought of himself as unique in taking over his father's business.

"I think kids usually try to run away from their family business," said Hyman, 54, of Santa Rosa.

Hyman, who along with his brother had worked at the shop since they were little kids, tried out careers in real estate and jewelry before returning to the fold.

He said the pawn shop hadn't changed much since his father bought it from the original owner in 1967. It still is covered by a weathered awning bearing the original name of San Rafael Loan when it was established in 1958. The company also has stores in Santa Rosa and Petaluma.

"Though the layout has changed, everything we do here we've done the same way since the beginning of time," said Hyman, noting a lot of that was due to being highly regulated by the state. He declined to provide revenue information.

They take in typical pawn shop fare, including jewelry, musical instruments and power tools, he said.

"A lot of people think our clientele consists of derelicts," Hyman said. "That's far from being true. People have to have something of value to borrow money."

He said they've made loans for as little as $5 and as much as $100,000 for a diamond ring.

"People are trying to save their house from going into foreclosure," Hyman said. "All sorts of people are coming in."

Marc Casassa, general manager of Marin Cleaners and a fourth generation family member in the business, said though they've been around for nearly 50 years, the last one was tough.

He said to make up for lost business, 11 employees were let go last year, equal to about 20 percent of their staff.

Though many in the affluent county can handle what Casassa admitted were some of the highest dry cleaning prices in the county, he said "middle-upper clientele" habits changed.

"Customers wear their suits more often and don't have it cleaned regularly," said Casassa, 37, of Novato. "Everybody stepped back."

Casassa said the company had handled other rough patches since his great grandfather started the business in San Francisco at the end of World War II. They relocated to Marin in the late 1940s and became Marin Cleaners with a space at 520 Fourth St. following a stint in Petaluma. In 1973, the company acquired the American French Laundry space at 700 A St. Other stores include Tiburon and Kentfield.

Casassa said his father, Bill Casassa, company president, and uncle, Gary Casassa, vice president, still work every day. In fact, his 83-year-old great uncle, Ronald Casassa, son of the original owners, remains heavily involved.

"We can't do anything without his approval," he said.

He maintained a big part of their longevity was through adapting and modernizing, such as off-site and drive-thru offerings.

"If we didn't do pick up (service) 15 years ago, we wouldn't be here," Casassa said. "That's 40 percent of our business right now."

He said annual revenue is a little over $3 million, but had been as high as $3.5 million when times were better.

Casassa, who joined the business full-time at age 21, placed high value on the family aspect of the firm.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said. "The older generation held it for you. You want to hold onto it as they did. When my grandfather started doing a lot less, my dad said to me he had to take care of him, kind of like what he did for me."

Casassa knew growing up in Marin that dry cleaning wasn't a glamorous business, "but we've lived a pretty good life. 

"We want to look out for our parents. It's a huge responsibility to put upon yourself."

As the shoe repairman, Ron Marelli said, when asked the secret to their longevity, "You maybe put up with more and put up with less because you're family."