After 125 Years, Pieritz Bros. Office Supply Stores Permanently Closing In June
OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- One of the oldest family run office supply stores in America has fallen victim to COVID-19. Pieritz Bros. has announced that after 125 years in business, they will close their doors at the end of June.
"It's like being in a bar, only you're sober," said Pieritz co-president John Roberts.
If that's the case, Roberts has been tending bar in this Oak Park office supply store for decades; eating the cookies baked by long-time customers, and listening to often impassioned opinions.
"I love this place. I love the people," one customer said.
Now Pieritz Bros. is going to close its doors for the last time. One of the oldest independent office supply stores in America is among the newest victims of COVID-19. Call it a sign of the times.
"The pandemic didn't get any bigger of a sign," Deb Pieritz said.
Her grandfather started the business in 1895. She said the business heavily depended on the back-to-school rush.
"It's what carries us through most of the year," she said. "I didn't know how to plan for back-to-school if there is back-to-school."
What she did know is she wasn't about to buy inventory, and risk getting stuck with it if the schools don't reopen open stick with remote learning in the fall.
"I'm a little risk averse right now," she said.
Pieritz has been working in the family business for the past 50 years. So deciding to close was tough.
"It just doesn't make sense not to do it," she said.
At the end of June, a store that's been handing out receipts for well more than a century will close its doors for the last time.
It's not just a store that's closing, because walking into Pieritz Bros. is like going back in time.
"I brought my kids here every year for school supplies, and we would spend a ton of time messing with the typewriters and the adding machines," teacher Laura Stamp said.
Roberts recalled one child's first experience with a typewriter.
"The kid looked at his dad, and said, 'but how do you put in the password?'"
Now Pieritz Bros. is passing into the history books. and for the store's namesake co-owner, 50 years at the helm is long enough.
"I felt like this huge weight got lifted off of me," Deb Pieritz said.
Because the weight of 125 years of history might be impossible to measure.
