1. In 1973, our first location opened on W 12th Street, between University and 5th as a retail operation. At the time, owner Myron Schonfeld was working strictly as a lawyer, but a business opportunity presented itself when a friend was selling a copy store.
At the time, copy businesses were not extremely common, so this opportunity was not only intriguing, but proved to be pioneering within the print landscape. Myron took over the business with his wife, Linda. During the 1970s, most of the early customers were students, often copying the notes of their friends in a hurry.
2. The business was originally called “S&M” under the previous ownership, but had not been changed for the first few years of Village’s business. As other neighborhood businesses opened due to a developing copy market, the retail location began to receive orders by mail—usually unsavory photographs. After receiving too many of these photographs, the name was officially changed to Village Copier.
3. In 1997, Chris Rock came into our former location at W 43rd St and filmed one of our former employees playing the piano for his show.
4. Starting from the mid-80’s, Village Copier sold self-serve cards for customers to make their own copies; people would often resell their cards using the personals section in The Village Voice. Myron even answered one of the ads once!