CityView Magazine

54 | September/October 2015 tunity to send these young men south. He picked the Fleishman brothers Ben and Morris and sent them to Dunn and Hyman soon followed. With clothes on consignment from the Bargain House in Baltimore, they were in business with little or no capital. eir first store was called B Fleishman's in Dunn and soon aerwards they started another store in Fayetteville. B Fleishman's later became Fleishman's Big Store when the brothers split up. Fleishman's Big Store was a ma- jor women's and children's department store in Fayetteville from 1926 until it closed in the 1970s. It was located be- tween the Capitol Department store and First Citizens Bank at Market House Square. My mother, my wife and her family shopped at Fleishman's Big Store in the 1950s and 60s like most women in Fayetteville did at the time. I remember how big I thought the store was at the time. Although it was probably not that tremendous, to a kid it seemed gigantic. Hyman was involved with his broth- ers Ben and Morris in B Fleishman, but he was not much of a businessman. He went back and forth from Fayetteville and Baltimore. He was more of a sports enthusiast (see the Publishers column). Hyman's oldest son was Edward Fleish- man or commonly referred to as "Ed." In 1923, Ed had saved $1900 and pur- chased a store on Hay Street from M. F. Shuford on the south side across from Fleishman's Big Store. Originally, Ed and his brother Maurice were part- ners in the new venture but later their younger brother Leon joined them. e store became known as Ed Fleish- man and Brothers. At one time during the highlight of their career in haber- dashery, they had ten stores in North Carolina and Virginia. eir two most famous stores were here in Fayetteville. e main store on Hay Street and the second was later located at Tallywood Shopping Center. A store in Wilming- ton still exists today that was bought from Ed and Maurice by their brother Milton in the 50's and his son Neal op- erates Fleishman's Fine Clothiers in Independence Mall. All the other Ed Fleishman and Brothers stores closed in the 1970's, mostly due to the economic urban impact of malls on downtown Mr. Ed's High School Haberdashers Ben Hailey Worked at Ed Fleishman's from 1957 to 1962 "I got a ticket on Hwy 301 coming back from a dance. I was doing 80 in a 55 and looking back, that was a sure way to lose my license and job. I went to Mr. Ed on Monday morning scared to death. Ed Fleishman said, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it and he did. I never had a speeding ticket since and it's been 56 years!' The Fleishman's taught me responsibility, manners and helped me mature into a young man." Buck Scott Worked at Ed Fleishman's while in high school and at Campbell College "It was my only opportunity growing up to have spending money. At several years of working for for 75 cents hour, I asked Mr. Ed for a raise. Mr. Ed said, 'I will put you on commission and whichever is higher you will earn and I will guarantee you $1 per hour.' I never earned more on commission, but he stuck with the $1 raise. Andy Harnsberger Worked 1970 to 1971 "Maurice liked to break Jewish tradition and eat barbeque and hot dogs. I would go to the pool hall to get the sandwiches and he had to be sure his brother Ed did not smell them because he would 'chew' his brother out for eating pork if he smelled the meat in the bag. Ed was very strict on the Jewish dietary laws and Maurice was not." Shikery Fadel Worked at Ed Fleishman's from 1961 to 1971 "Buck Scott was the first guy, Ben Hailey was the second and I guess I was the third one in the door and I really enjoyed working with those guys. Everything was centered around downtown, I got to know so many people in town working there. Ed was about my size, a little guy. He was very soft spoken, very gentle. He was the guy I could go to and talk to. He was a father figure in a way."

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