Allan Cohen

My name is Allan Cohen, I was born in New York City on the Lower East Side on March 30, 1933. My mothers name was Sophie and my father, s name was Sam.

They were both from Russia, at least that is what my birth certificate says.

I don't remember much about my father, as my parents were separated, for as long as I can remember.

I do not have any memories as a child eating dinner together with my mom and dad ever. I guess that is what I regret the most. I miss the close family upbringing most children had. I think that is very important, it gives a child a basis, a start, and fond memories that last a lifetime.

I don't have any fond memories of my mom and dad as a family, as I was growing up.

I remember one day at school I was called down to the principal's office, when I went into the office I saw my uncle who drove me to my house. As soon as we arrived in my house my mother said did Sam die? My uncle said yes.

I sat Shiva on my fourteenth birthday that week.

I remember a young friend showing me what to do in the alleyway by a garbage can full of ashes, he said I had to put ashes in my shoes as part of the mourning ritual, he knew that as he had lost a parent prior to me. After sixty seven years look what still what sticks in my mind

I guess the lack of the closeness and direction of two loving parents made me stand on my own two feet, real fast, as there was no other way to go. Don't get me wrong my mom loved me. The lack of my father's direction (he was not there) and my mothers lack of knowledge of the English language, I did not get a proper head start in life from a education point of view. I became very entrepreneurial and aggressive( I sold knishes when I was fourteen years old on the beach in Coney Island in the summer months under the board walk, I walked on the hot sand yelling ( delicious Knishes) and hid from the police as you were not supposed to peddle on the beach.

I sold horns on times square on new years eve) I started one year by myself and as the years progressed I had three boys working for me. I did very well. I had to make money we were on home relieve (we received assistance from the city of New York, as many people did at that time who were in need of financial help).

When I was seventeen I started working in the mountains in the summer time in upstate New York known as the borscht belt.

That was another way to make money.

I started in the kitchen as a salad man one year, then as the years progressed I was a bus boy ,waiter, social director and dance instructor. I loved to dance, I later worked for Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Long island as a dance instructor. I did shows in the Long Island Country Clubs.

I went to the Pallidum on Wendsday nights on 53rd and Broadway in New York City. I loved Latin dancing, and they had the best live Latin bands there.

Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Machito, there was non stop dancing.

I danced the night away. I also taught private groups in their homes in upper Manhattan I had a very wealthy clientele whom I met at the Pallidum. I promoted group lessons as it was a nice evening out for couples and I made more money teaching 4 or 5 couples in a group instead of one couple in a private lesson, it was also cheaper for them

than paying for private lessons.

That was another way to make money. I was a very busy boy.

I made all of my talents work for me.

My business career started in the retail business, I worked for a department store in New York City called S. Klein on the Square. It was quite a famous discount department store. I was later recruited by a executive from another department store across the street called Curry, s. There I worked myself up to store manager.

I then was contacted by a headhunter who heard about me and my progress, he had a position open to supervise a chain of ladies stores

in Houston, Texas Called Grayson's they were a part of a large conglomerate called Grayson Robinson. So I went to Houston, Texas and managed the chain..

After working in Houston, Texas I went to Florida. I had two older brothers living there Sam and Leo, there were half brothers as they were from my mothers first marriage.

I started decorating very unusual ladies handbags as a craft idea from my kitchen table, I showed my handbags to retail stores who loved them, they gave me large orders. I had a problem, I could not make these large orders on my kitchen table, so I opened a small factory to manufacture my hand bags on 17th street in Miami just west of Biscayne Blvd. I sold them to major department stores and resort hotels such as the Eden Roc, Fountainbleau and other major department stores throughout the United States. My hand bags were called Allan's Originals. I did my own marketing and promoted my handbags to the Miss Universe Pageant which was held each year in Miami Beach, Florida. My handbags became the official handbag for the Miss Universe Pageant. I was sort of famous.

I had a professional photographer take 8 x 10 glossy photos of my handbags being held by all the contestants for promotional purposes.

I sold my handbags to Burdines department stores who displayed my bags in their windows on the street level with photos of the Miss Universe contestants in bathing suits holding my hand bags.

This created quite a stir at the time. The FREE publicity was fabulous.

I met a young lady in Miami Beach called Beverly Steinberg, we started seeing each other and later we got married in Baltimore, Maryland where her family came from.

She had a wonderful mother called Frieda who was a great cook and made me feel like I had a family, she did Shabas dinner on Friday nights. I liked the family feeling as being part of a family was something that I did not grow up with, and I missed it, it gave me a feeling of belonging.

After three years my wife and I had a beautiful son whom we named Steven. I was so happy to have a son, I could not believe it. He was a handsome boy and I was so proud of him. I created another human being.

Shortly after my son was born I received a wonderful job offer running a large factory in Toronto, Canada for a international company called A. J. Siris. They had factories in New York, England, Mexico, and Canada. I ran the Canadian operation with 280 employees in the factory. This company manufactured wallets, pencil cases, powder puffs, loose leaf binders, and many other specialty products. We sold to all the major retail chains, department stores and cosmetic companies in Canada, such as Revlon, Max Factor,& Avon to mention just a few, I had salesman through out Canada, but the selling of the major accounts I was in charge of.

This international company paid all my family moving expense from Miami to Toronto for me, my wife, son and maid. I was also given a company car, a expense account and was paid a excellent salary. That was a great opportunity for a young man from the lower east side running a huge international manufacturing business, it was hard for me to believe that I had gone so far in such a short time. I was only 29 years old at the time.

While living in Toronto I started taking art lessons, and enjoyed

this very much. I had a teacher who taught me how to paint acrylic on canvas. I later studied collage, Mixed media and Assemblage Art.

I enjoy art very much it is very creative and I find it very relaxing.

My sister Sally ( my half sister) asked me to give her teen age son Richard (my nephew) a job in Toronto for the summer .I did, an Richard has told me many times that this work experience with my company was a big help in molding him for his future success in business. Plus he had a great time as I gave him my car most evenings, that was great for a young teenager away from his family in a different country.

After A. J. Siris I was director of store planning for a department store chain called Rite-Way department stores,they were located throughout Ontario, Canada. They were owned by Oshawa wholesale a large produce wholesaler. I was in charge of store planning from ground breaking to store opening.

And reported directly to the president Ron Melhado. There I received a tremendous amount of experience in store planning and in new concepts of retailing. I traveled throughout the United states and Canada looking at the latest type of retailing.

I lived in Toronto for about twenty years, it was a beautiful place to

live in except it was quite a change from Florida weather. I lived in a high rise building with underground parking and a doorman in a area called Forest Hills.

I always wondered what could I do with the great experience that I had acquired.

So I started a consulting business in Toronto. I specialized in consulting for consumer goods manufactures and retailing for chain stores as that was what I felt I knew based on my past experience in Toronto and the United States in retailing and manufacturing.

I traveled throughout Canada, United States and Europe as a consultant and lecturer for major corporations and the government.

I also wrote over fifty articles for trade magazines and was published in many newspapers as a business consultant on how to increase business. I was always promoting myself and that was a big help

in securing free publicity and new business with clients. It also helped me to increase my fees with major corporations.

One of my major consulting assignments was producing operations manuals for retail chains, many did not have them at the time or they did not have a up to date operating manual.

I traveled throughout Canada visiting the clients operations and studied their procedures in the areas of store display, layout, merchandising, ticketing, signing, receiving, cash register operations, employee benefits and customer service.

I then submitted a detailed operations manual to improve the company, s operating procedures in all their stores. It was a big assignment with a large consulting fee, and was a big help in improving the clients sales, operations and profit.

Some of my clients were Imperial Oil Limited, Bata Shoes, La Chateau Stores, Color Your World Paint Stores, Towers Department Stores,

Canada Post, Suzuki Canada Inc, Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, Howard Johnson Motor Lodges Hotels and Restaurants.

Put photos of my articles here in a montage.

I started this consulting business working from home which later brought me to write and publish my own newsletter, and then produce

my own T. V. Show called "WORKING FROM HOME". This T. V. show was produced and aired in Florida by a T .V .cable station. That was really FUN.

At that time there were not many people working from home as there are today (that was before desktop computers) and people wanted to know how to work from home, get free publicity travel the world and be successful as I did.

My wife and I grew apart and we divorced. I think that took a big toll on my son Steven, coming from a broken home I can truly understand that. This time was very tough for me as I felt that I did not do any better than my dad did, and I felt terrible for my son Steven whom I

adored. I felt very bad about the divorce but I was not happy with the marriage and knowing that you only live once I did not want to be unhappy for the rest of my life.

I later met a women Called Paula Steeris from Montreal, Canada, we married at the Four Seasons Hotel, Inn On The Park in Toronto, Canada. It was a beautiful wedding. She had two teenage girls called Cindy and Laurie, and a dog called Spotty. My son also lived with me, we all lived in a three story townhouse in Toronto, Canada. I had a very good job working as a management consultant for Peat Marwick a very large international consulting firm with offices throughout the world.

I was offered this job as I was so well known in Canada from my

articles in newspapers and magazines as a management consultant.

My wife Paula later was diagnosed with Cancer, (she was a smoker) she had a terrible time, I looked after her for many years,it was very tough to see a beautiful women go through such suffering and her children to go thru such a horrible time.

She passed away in January in Toronto, Canada. I will never forget the funeral at the cemetery the sun was shining it was so warm and beautiful in Toronto that day in January, it was like God was taking her to a better place...

I sold my home in Toronto I moved back to Florida, I did not like the weather in Toronto in the winter I also I owned a condo in Florida so the move was easy. There I met a beautiful women called Joan Batt, in a cocktail lounge at Happy Hour she was a model and worked in a fashion showroom. She was a widow. She had two grown children called Layne and Hal who had families of their own. We hit it off right away, she later told me she liked my style when we met, my tie and my lapel handkerchief matched, I guess my fashion sense impressed her. She sold her house and we later moved in together in my condo apartment.

I worked in commercial real estate at the time and did quite well.

We had a great time until she was diagnosed with lung cancer( she did not smoke) I could not believe this happened again to me.

Here I Go again.

I looked after her for years until she passed away.

My first wife Beverly had moved back to Florida. One day I received a call from my son Steven that Beverly had passed away.That was three days before Joan had passed away. That week I went to two funerals.

Life is such a precious thing.

I was very depressed after that, I could not believe that this happened to me. I think I could understand once but twice that was to much for any person to take.

When I was with Joan my son Steven married a beautiful girl called

Michelle. Joan walked down the isle at the wedding with Steven and Michelle, I thought that was a very nice gesture on Steven's and Michelle's part.

Photo of Stevens wedding with Joan and I.

Michelle and Steven had three beautiful children. My grandchildren were Jane Rose she was the first, the sweetest and most sensitive'

Followed by Dylan a handsome boy who reminded me so much of Steven when he was his age, and he loved to go fishing, and Stella a beautiful girl who loved to entertain when I visited their home every couple of weeks, my grandchildren would always put on a show..

Their children are very creative, outgoing, and a pleasure to be with.

Michelle and Steven are wonderful parents. Joan only knew Jane Rose when she was born, Joan never made it to see Dylan, and Stella. What a shame.

My son Steven and Michelle started a small pet store business, I watched it grow to a big store off Lincoln Road. They both worked very hard for many years and with three children it was not easy.

Photo of my three grandchildren

Some time after Joan passed away I met a very attractive and stylish lady called Arline Lowenfels, She was married to Harry Lowenfels who had passed away. She had two grown children in New York named Linda and Paul.

Photo of Arline and I on a cruise.

Between them they had five children, She was very devoted to her grandchildren. She was a very wonderful lady, a great cook and very sociable, she loved to go out to parties and restaurants and loved to entertain and travel. You could not have a better friend. We cruised a lot and traveled Europe. She later told me that before I met her I led a very sheltered life.That was really not true. When I first met her I was not in good shape I was still very sad from my recent losses. She suggested that I see someone to help me, I did and that helped me a lot.

Photo of Arline, my grandchildren,& family at Benihana

About three years after I met Arline I had a serious heart attack at age 75 and was operated on at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach (where my son Steven was born some 46 years earlier).The operation was performed by

Dr. Donald B .Williams a renowned surgeon he replaced my Aortic valve and fixed five arteries. That is what is called a major overhaul.

On Sunday August 3, 2014 my brother Sammy passed away, he was 97 years old. My sister Sally passed away previously and my brother Leo passed away, I am the only one left standing.