End of era for two North Riverdale businesses

Every morning Len Morse gets up and starts his day by opening his shop at 5902 Riverdale Ave., just off the corner of West 259th Street.

But after next week that will finally come to an end, when Morse’s store, Vacuum World, closes its doors for the last time.

“It’s bittersweet,” Morse said. “I’m going to miss this place but it’s time to move on. I’ve been doing this for 58 years, it’s time. I’m done”

For Morse its an opportunity to spend more time with his family and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

For others in the area, it’s the end of an era.

But not all of the time Morse spent in the business was spent on the Riverdale Avenue strip.

Additionally, it wasn’t always Morse’s idea to start his own business — let alone in the vacuum cleaner industry.

The soon-to-be vacuum expert at the time was attending Miami Dade Junior College before he began working at the Vacuum World in the South Bronx.

The store’s owner at the time had been in business at that location since 1938. Morse would later join the business 28 years later in 1966 as a store associate.

“I actually wanted to become a lawyer before all of this,” Morse said. “But because of (a lack) of funding from my family I started working down at a vacuum store on Webster and Fordham.”

The manager of the business at the time eventually stepped down and left Morse in charge. At 26 years old, he eventually ended up buying that business.

After expanding the location on Webster, Morse went ahead and opened a second location in 1980 on Riverdale Avenue replacing an electronics shop.

While he sometimes wonders what it would have been like to become an attorney, Morse has no regrets on how the events of his life unfolded.

“I probably would have liked to have gone into it,” Morse said. “But I know people who went into law and I actually wound up doing better.”

If you ask Morse what’s the key to his success the first thing, he’ll tell you is the customer experience at his shop.

The 75-year-old shop owner touts that he has great customer reviews.

In fact, the business has been rated five stars in 36 customer reviews on Yelp and 45 reviews on Google — a difficult feat for any business these days.

Morse said despite the business being a stand-alone store focused on one kind of product and service — they also repair lamps — he believes having a specific expertise on vacuum cleaners gave him an edge over big box retail and other electronic stores.

“So many stores fix vacuums as a side thing,” Morse said. “When they come into my store and they open them up, they’ll say ‘where did you get that?’ And I’ll say ‘Well, the guy kind of does this, he does that,’ explaining to them an exact repair made to the mechanism of the vacuum. And there’s a difference in having a person who specializes in this field.”

Another reason Morse believes Vacuum World is so successful is the commercial accounts the business has acquired over the years.

“We do the big floor burnishes (with) the carpet cleaning machines,” Morse said. “And that also was a big part of my business. And not to brag, but when I had the Fordham store my clients included Fordham University, the Botanical Gardens, Montefiore Hospital, and even the World Trade Center. So, it was more than just a mom coming in here with a vacuum cleaner.”

But Morse isn’t the only one saying goodbye to North Riverdale. His next-door neighbor and business partners Patti Cassiere and Joe Sparacio — owners of Cora Hardware Store at 5900 Riverdale Ave. — is also closing shop.

“It’s a bittersweet thing right now,” Cassiere said. “We’re happy to be moving on and retiring but it’s definitely a hard thing to say goodbye.”

Cassiere first began running the store in 1998 after she took over the business from her father, Patrick Cassiere. She attributes her father’s wisdom with the store’s long running success.

“He built the business by listening to the community,” Cassiere said. “And that’s why when people come in now, they always say ‘I always come here because I get what I need.’

“He would always say, ‘the fastest movers are the ones that give you the least stuff, Cassiere said. “‘So, pay attention to what the customers want, and try to buy from there.’ And we did the same thing. So, it worked. It was a good recipe.”

It would be the same year that Morse had signed the lease for his Riverdale location that Cassiere’s father would take over the failing hardware store and turn things around.

Five years later the elder Cassiere and Morse would buy the property outright from their then-landlord making them business partners in real estate and renting out the additional space to other businesses.

Now the business owners are ready to pack up and move on with their lives but not for some of the reasons past business owners may have closed their doors.

“We’re not being pushed out or going out of business,” Cassiere said. “We’ve just decided we all wanted to retire.”

The collective group of business owners has sold the building to a new owner who will take over the commercial space and possibly build something new.

While neither Cassiere nor Morse have a clue what will happen with the space, their focus now is on a life after retirement.

“The reason why we’re retiring is because we’re at that age, and it’s time to do it, Cassiere said. “It’s been a heart-warming experience with people coming in and saying their goodbyes. You realize, you know, how wonderful they are. When you’re in the thick of things sometimes you don’t realize how wonderful your customers are. But you always appreciate them, but you don’t realize how warm and wonderful they are until after. And the outpouring has been unbelievable.”

While Morse is looking at living the rest of his days down in Florida, Cassiere says she and Sparacio — her husband — will remain residents in the area for the foreseeable future.

Cassiere says she’ll miss the challenges of helping her customers find items to help solve their problems.

“I love helping them figure out what are the best items to solve their problems, Cassiere said. “It’s been one of my biggest joys working in this shop.”

It’s a sentiment that Morse shares as well.

“You know I’m happy to be retiring and looking forward to the new life,” Morse said. “But I’m going to miss the people in this neighborhood. Not just the business they brought but the relationships we’ve made.”

Vacuum World will close its doors on Saturday, while Cora Hardware will close its doors at the end of this month.