They travelled through Belgium, Holland and Germany before sailing to New York. Joe Sussman was only 21 years old at that time and could speak very little English.
Soon the three brothers traveled north to the garment district of Toronto.
After about a year in Toronto, Joe moved up to the Arthur area and began to peddle clothes with a horse and cart covering about a 12 mile radius surrounding the village.
Soon he became a familiar sight on the back roads of the local townships and stayed at many farm homes overnight after stabling his horse. After a number of years traveling the area, he decided to open a store in Arthur and let his customers come to him.
On April 15, 1915, he opened a store on the west side of George St, just a few doors south of the Charles St. Corner. It was a partnership with brother-in-law Willy Rother. Due to his connection with former customers, especially in the rural area, his business flourished and soon he was able to buy out his brother-in-law.
Meanwhile Joe's two brothers had also set up a business in the area - Art in Fergus and Ben in Harriston.
However, of the three brothers, only Joe enjoyed the life of a small town and soon the other two had moved back to Toronto.
Within a few years joe's business had grown to the stage that he needed a larger premises and in 1918 he moved to a location across the street and further north on George St. to a building recently vacated by the Carswell Brothers.
Here for the next 37 years, at 189 George St., he was to conduct his business and raise his family.
About 1916, Joe married Tillie Weingarten from Toronto and soon the couple were blessed with two sons, Irving and Art, and later a daughter, Shirley. After finishing high school in Arthur, both Irving and Art set up a medical practice after graduating from Western University. Of Art's three sons, two are graduates in medicine.
In 1950, Shirley married Dave Kozinets from Toronto, who joined the business in Arthur.
The clothing business was in Dave's blood; his father had been a furrier, and his grandfather a tailor in Russia. As Dave gradually started to play a larger role in the business, he realized that to compete against stores in nearby cities, he would have to specialize, and chose men's clothing as his target.
To carry this larger stock, in 1955 he purchased the William Moos Building further north on George St. across the alley-way from Walsh's Pharmacy, which was being constructed that summer.
As the business grew, he continued expanding until he had purchased all the retail premises north to the end of the block.
Soon customers as far away as Hamilton, Toronto, London and Owen Sound were showing up, lured by attractive sale flyers and word-of-mouth advertising.
By the mid 1070's, Dave and Shirley's two sons Steve and Harvey had joined the business as partners, bringing fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
Dave had always taken a keen interest in the affairs of the village and in 1970, was elected to council where he was to serve as Reeve for 13 years.
Those were years when major expansions were taking place in the community - the Bell Thread Company came to town; the municipal parking lot was purchased and paved; a new library, medical center, nursing home and arena complex all were built in the village.
The new millennium year saw some changes in the Sussman's business. Steve was made president, Harvey vice-president and Dave CEO. The year 2000 also saw many from the community joining Dave and Shirley in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Today the retail premises cover 40,000 square feet and the business employees about 50 people. If Joe Sussman could come back today, he would be amazed at the growth of the business he started over 100 years ago with his horse and cart. It goes without saying that he would also be very proud.
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