LOWELL — It’s hard for any business to stay in town for a year, let alone dozens or even over a hundred years. So it’s worth celebrating three different local businesses and their long tenures in town, according to the City of Lowell.
Luz Granite, Smith’s Barber Shop and George’s Delicatessen all received citations from Lowell Mayor John Leahy Saturday morning for their extensive stays on Gorham Street near the Lowell Connector.
The deli has been at its location at 1224 Gotham St. for 55 years, founded by George Nicolakakis and currently run by his son Louie and Louie’s wife, Tara.
Luz Granite is also a family business, started by Andrew Luz 102 years ago on Gorham Street, where it has stayed. It is currently now run by Andrew’s grandson, Adrian “Chip” Luz Jr., and Adrian’s mother, Betty Luz.
Smith’s Barbershop has been on 1216 Gorham St. for 90 years, first under the ownership of Russell Smith until he passed away. The business was taken over 24 years ago by Susan Gys.
Mayor Leahy admitted being a fan of all three businesses, visiting George’s for a sandwich every so often and stopping by Smith’s for a haircut.
When presenting Gys with the barbershop’s citation, he even told the story of the first time he went to Smith’s years ago on an enthusiastic recommendation from a college buddy. Both as a customer and a small business owner himself, Leahy understands the importance of supporting small businesses, especially with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve been in business for 33 years and every once in a while, I think it’s important for officials to say, ‘Thank you for staying here in Lowell and helping your neighbor and contributing to all the youth organizations,'” he said. “It’s more important now than ever to support small businesses, so many of them are going out of business and it’s tough to see.”
Fortunately some businesses managed to stay afloat during the pandemic, one of them being George’s Delicatessen. Tara noted that the deli never closed down during the pandemic, nor did it have to shift to delivery-only for food service. Louie’s known his father’s business for most of his life, having worked in the deli since he was child and seeing customers in and outside of town.
“We have four generations of customers now,” he said. “It makes me feel happy inside, really keeps me going.”
“I always like to say that we have a little bit of a cult following,” Tara added. “People that come here are usually people who came here in the 1970s and have continued to come. They even come back to the city just to come here.”
Luz Granite is also a family business, though it hasn’t always called 1208 Gorham St. home. “Chip” Luz noted that the business was originally located at 1122 Gorham St. before moving to its current location in the 1980s. The shop’s own practice of manufacturing memorial headstones wasn’t even its original forte.
“He actually started a cement and garden furniture business, memorials were just kinda the sideline,” Luz said of his grandfather. “Then, that just became the more popular product so that’s what we’ve been focused on since the late 1920s. We’ve been very busy and the community has shown great support.”
Susan Gys, the current owner of Smith’s Barbershop, has no blood relation to the shop’s founder, Russell Smith. What she does have is a long history with Gorham Street, growing up down the road and coming back to visit her mother while she was working in Chelmsford for eight years prior to her current job.
Gys said a family member told her years ago that Smith’s Barbershop was up for rent after Smith passed away. After meeting with Smith’s son, Craig, about simply renting the space, she and Craig talked about her taking over. It turns out, Gys is not the only one returning to Gorham Street for hair care.
“I do have a customer that came to me when he was 10-years -old and asked for my card after I cut his hair,” she said. “I’m still doing his hair and his is now 41 and now he comes in with his daughters. To see two generations in here is amazing.”
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November 02, 2020 at 03:08AM
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Lowell honors longstanding local businesses - Lowell Sun
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