Page 16 - Travel Markets Insider October 2021 Final

INSIDER

International Shoppes transformed its duty free offer at JFK T1 in late 2018. The stunning entrance of the
International Shoppes duty free store at JFK Terminal 1 is dominated by a 17-foot video wall.

International Shoppes celebrates 70 years of two families, three

generations, and an enduring partnership

In 1951, two young men in New York City got together and opened a jewelry store in the brand new Port Authority Bus Terminal. With
that endeavor, Herman Greenbaum, who operated several jewelry stores in Manhattan, and Fred Rosenberg, a watch-maker originally
from Germany, who learned the trade while living in a children’s camp in Switzerland, began a legacy that today operates some of the
most successful duty free and travel retail stores in airports in the United States.
International Shoppes, which today is operated by the children and grandchildren of its founders, maintains all of the integrity and
heritage of Fred and Herman, in an enduring partnership that has connected the two families over three generations and 70 years.
Travel Markets Insider had the distinct honor of meeting with all of the current owners as they reminisced about the highlights of
their shared history and look forward to what the future might bring.

“Fred and Herman opened in the Port Joanne Halpern, Fred’s daughter and Vice said Matt Greenbaum, Stephen’s son and
Authority in 1951 and their first sale was President. an IS vice president.
a watchband for a dollar,” commented “It was a family business from the The two young men eventually
Stephen Greenbaum, Herman’s son and very start. The store was called Gare, which operated two jewelry stores and a hugely
current IS CEO. was an acronym for Greenbaum Anne successful lottery kiosk and stationery
“They sold a LOT of watchbands at Rosenberg Erna, named after their wives. store at the Bus Terminal, where they
the Port Authority. It was amazing,” added Gare also meant ‘train station’ in French,” continued to have a presence into the early
2000s. Importantly, the Port Authority Bus
Terminal business led them into the airport.
Joanne Halpern recalls: “They used to
fix all the Port Authority people’s watches,
so they knew everybody. And many airport
managers came out of the Bus Terminal, so
when opportunities opened up, they asked
Fred Rosenberg and Herman Herman and Fred to come to the airport. In
Greenbaum opened at New York’s those days business was by a handshake,
Idlewild Airport (now JFK) in
1961 not an RFP.”
In 1961, the two opened a jewelry
store at the International Arrivals Building
at Idlewild International Airport (now
JFK), which soon became the first

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