Stanley Zabar, co-owner of iconic New York Jewish grocery, dies at 94
Zabar's death, reportedly due to cancer, comes a year after passing of brother and co-owner; Stanley handled business side of store and helped build its online presence
Stanley Zabar, co-owner of Zabar’s, the iconic Jewish food emporium on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, has died at age 94, the store said in a statement on Wednesday.
His death, due to cancer, according to The New York Times, comes just over a year after that of his older brother and co-owner, Saul. He had three children, David, Sondra and Lori (who died in 2022).
The Broadway grocery sells an abundance of delicacies, many of them from the Jewish culinary tradition, from smoked fish and stacks of cheeses to bagels, rugelach and babka. It offers special menus for holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
Zabar was born in 1932. He quit his studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950 to join his brother Saul to run the store after their father passed away. He continued studying in New York, where he earned degrees in law and taxation while managing the business side of the store.
“They all worked to their strengths,” Stanley’s daughter Sondra told The New York Times, saying her father “had a talent for being strategic.”
Zabar helped create the store’s mail order department and online presence. He also pioneered the prepared foods and cheese departments, general manager Scott Goldshine told The Times, adding that the co-owner would always alert him if the coleslaw was bad.
“He really had a thing for it,” he told the newspaper. “And when we screwed up, I’d get a call.”
“Stanley’s legal and financial acumen was vital in shaping Zabar’s into a beloved New York City institution,” the store’s statement said on Wednesday, noting his commitment to philanthropy and devotion to his family.
“He will be remembered for the business he helped build, the countless opportunities he created for others and his unwavering dedication to his family and community,” the statement said.
“It feels really bittersweet. I just said to my cousin that walking into the store made me feel like I was close to him. My dad was a remarkable man,” Sondra told CBS News.
“Very much a family person for his children, his grandchildren, and also that extended to the customers. He really wanted to take care of customers and make people happy,” son David said.
The funeral was to be held at Riverside Memorial Chapel later on Wednesday.
Zabar’s has become a symbol of New York Jewish culture. Each week, the store sold approximately 2,000 pounds (900 kg) of smoked fish and 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) of coffee to some 40,000 customers, according to The Times.
The store featured in a music video for Vampire Weekend, whose frontman Ezra Koenig is Jewish. It has partnered with Adidas and Nordstrom.
It has also figured in local and national politics multiple times. In 2018, mayoral candidate Cynthia Nixon caused a minor scandal when she ordered tomato, capers, onions, lox and plain cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel — a sin for area bagel enthusiasts. Later, US Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Jewish Democrat who has represented the area for decades, brought a Zabar’s bag to an impeachment hearing for US President Donald Trump.