Local businesses breathe life into our cities and make them feel like home. As St. Louis heads into its 250th birthday, Town & Style celebrates three institutions reaching their own unique milestones.
[sportsman’s park]
In 2014, the beloved Ladue sports bar Sportsman’s Park will celebrate its 40th anniversary. In 1974, Norman Probstein and NFL Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith opened the restaurant as Jackie’s Place. Four years later, Smith left the business, and its name was changed to Sportsman’s Park, after the old ballpark used by the St. Louis Browns and the Cardinals.
Jim Probstein, son of Norman, now runs the place, and has been a familiar face at Sportsman’s Park practically his whole life. “I started working in the kitchen and as a busboy when I was 15, and I’ve been working there ever since,” he says.
In its early days, Sportsman’s Park was one of the only restaurants in the area, Probstein recalls. “Our consistency keeps people coming back,” he says. “The sports memorabilia is updated, but the overall ambience has always been of a cozy neighborhood place, and a lot of our recipes have stayed the same all these years.”
Although Sportsman’s Park has retained its charming sports-bar feel, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t kept up with the times. Lighter choices have been added to the menu, and in the last few years so has a delivery service. “The other evolution has been that we’ve become more of a restaurant than a bar,” Probstein says. “When it first opened, it was just the opposite.”
The mark of a true neighborhood establishment is its rotating cast of regulars, something Sportsman’s Park has had since the beginning. St. Louisans love to gather to watch a game, or enjoy the restaurant’s signature turkey chili, Probstein says.
“It’s one of those places where people feel comfortable,” he adds. “We get people in suit and tie, and people in sweatpants. It’s crowded and close and loud—and people like it that way. We even had an older couple who had been regulars for a long time celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary here.”
[ylang-ylang]
Next year marks a big one for Ylang-Ylang. Not only is the local jewelry store approaching its 30th anniversary, but it will also move to a new location in Ladue’s Colonial Marketplace.
Ylang-Ylang, originally part of a New York-based franchise, came to St. Louis in 1985. St. Louisans Ray and Lois Morganstern, searching for a new jewelry concept to bring to their hometown, stumbled upon a Ylang-Ylang in Bal Harbour, Fla. “We just fell in love with the bright pink and turquoise art deco-inspired boutique. It was like being in a candy store,” Morganstern says.
Soon after that, the Morgansterns incorporated in 1984 and opened their store in Plaza Frontenac the following year. Their first customer was Marie Osmond, who was staying in the Chase at the time, recalls Morganstern. Now, only a few Ylang-Ylang stores remain open, all of them independent as the parent company no longer exists. Morganstern and Julie Ettinger, her daughter and the store’s co-owner, hand-select all the store’s merchandise.
Since opening in the ’80s, Ylang-Ylang’s jewelry style has been anything but static. “In the ’80s, it was big costume jewelry, all from London, France and Italy,” Ettinger says. “Now, it’s evolved to fine designer jewelry from all over the world.”
The jewelry business is a family tradition for the Morgansterns. “My grandma sold diamonds and jewelry, my mom and dad sold estate jewelry before founding Ylang-Ylang in St. Louis, and now my mom is passing the crown down to me,” says Ettinger, who will gain full ownership of Ylang-Ylang upon the opening of the new store.
Morganstern, who will act as consultant after the move, says the secret to their success is Ylang-Ylang’s appeal to all ages and their special relationship with customers. “I have seen mothers, their daughters, and now I’m seeing the grandchildren of people who were my first customers,” Morganstern says. “People love our jewelry because we have so many one-of-a-kind pieces,” Ettinger adds. “But mostly I think my mom and I have built many wonderful relationships over the years.”
[the gatesworth]
When senior retirement community The Gatesworth was founded in 1988 by Charles Deutsch, David Smith and director of operations Bob Leonard, plenty of people doubted it would make it, says executive director Martha Kessel. But a quarter century later, it’s still going strong. “David and Charlie always had a desire to have a community catered to older adults and the lifestyle they were accustomed to,” Kessel says. “The Gatesworth was the first senior living facility of its kind in St. Louis and still provides a level of service unique in the industry—according to Forbes, we are one of the top 20 retirement homes in the country.”
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, The Gatesworth hosted a party, where it screened a new documentary on its history, featuring longtime residents and employees. Kessel, who has been with the company since the beginning, says that the years have brought fine-tuning and an extension of services offered, which include fitness classes, entertainment, housekeeping and fine dining. “When we opened, we thought we had everything anyone could want,” she says. “Through the years, though, we’ve added to those amenities by listening to residents. A few years ago, for example, we started offering dog-walking after hearing a resident was afraid to walk their dog on an icy day.”
As great as the services and amenities are, it’s really the people who make The Gatesworth a special place, says Kessel. “Yesterday I was talking to a gentleman whose mother passed away, and he said we added six years to her life by keeping her mentally active and social,” she says. “When you’re at home, you don’t necessarily have people to eat dinner with. Here, there’s always someone to eat with. And I hear from residents that all the employees know their name. That’s the caliber of people we hire, and I really think that’s what makes us a success.”
By Stephanie Zeilenga
Photo by The Gatesworth
Pictured: David Smith, Elana Spitzberg, Charlie Deutsch in 1988
