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himself without me and it gave me a chance to realize that my
original feelings for the store were true," she says. "The place encompasses so much that I was looking for—working with your hands,
working with people, doing a lot of things every day rather than just
one thing at a desk."
From the Ground Up
Since taking over, Josh and Niki balance engaging Russ & Daughters
in the modern era with an online and social media presence with
keeping its heritage intact. The latter means being involved in every
aspect of operations, from slicing lox to waiting on customers.
"I learned from the ground up—the best way to learn a business," says Josh. (In fact, one of the first things Josh, who is lefthanded, had to learn was to cut with his right hand. "The counter people
realized on my first day that I would slice people [next to me]," he
says.) Having a background that didn't include the food business
proved helpful in surprising ways. "When you bring in someone who
knows food [retail], it's hard to show them how to do things because
they think they already know," Josh explains. "I didn't have that, but
my degree taught me to learn. I don't remember every theorem I ever
learned, but I know how to figure things out."
As for modernizing, the owners have worked to effect change
technology-wise. "When I first got here, we were still writing up
Josh Russ Tupper demonstrates the art of slicing paper-thin lox.
Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 5062
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