Tips From a 104-Year-Old Food Business on Staying Relevant
Photo Credit: Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper on stage at Skift Restaurants Forum. Skift Table
Skift Take
When taking on a business with such a storied history, there's always a balancing act between looking backwards and looking forwards. Russ & Daughters is a New York institution and one to which its customers feel a deep attachment.
When Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper took ownership of the renowned Russ & Daughters store on New York City's Lower East Side, they became the fourth generation of the same family to run the business.
The challenge for the cousins was how to maintain the legacy of a business that had been operating for 104 years, but also how to bring the concept to a bigger audience.
The only way customers were able to eat at the original store was by grabbing a seat on the bench outside, so the pair set about devising a plan for expansion.
"Having a sit-down restaurant just felt like an organic next move," Russ Federman said Monday at Skift Restaurants Forum in New York City
Russ & Daughters now has a cafe close to the original store, a restaurant and take-out counter at the Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side, and is close to opening a huge new space in Brooklyn.
"Our original store is the center of inspiration and a reference point for everything we've done since," said Russ
