Beyond Microwaves: Duddy’s Electronics’ Four Decades of Service to the Boro Park Community and Beyond

By: Yehuda Alter
We stand in a time of the year that is synonymous with Pesach preparations—the busiest season of the year for housewares, electronics, and appliance retailers. But R’ Itche Fuhrer takes a moment out of an extremely busy day of running this establishment that has stood stalwartly as one of the oldest establishments on Fourteenth Avenue to speak with Boropark24.
Duddy’s has been a legend in the Boro Park community—always
finding a way to retail just the right amount of merchandise, at affordable
prices to suit every consumer... and has become a traditional –must stop for
Meshulachim, visitors, and tourists from Eretz Yisroel.
But when Pesach comes, Duddy’s becomes a destination: for
young couples making Pesach on their own for the first time, for large families
who must always switch out those small and large appliances that have ceased
serving the family’s needs for decades of Pesach’s... and for so many seeking
to acquire new kitchen and home gadgets that will make their Pesach
preparations easier... and more fun.
“Our Pesach season is really Chanukah time,” Fuhrer quips. “In
the dead of winter, we need to anticipate the merchandise that people will be
interested in buying come spring,” he explains.
Another reason why this hallmark establishment becomes so
busy this time of year is their specializing in vacuum cleaners. “While people
can try and postpone their repairs, or buying new machines, during the
year—with Pesach there is no choice, so we are inundated with this as well.”
Then there is the major appliance part of the business.
“With Covid interrupting the supply chain, it has become little more difficult
to always have the appliances that people want in stock...and with Pesach here,
and people needing new ovens, stoves, convection ovens, and other major and
minor appliances, we are definitely overwhelmed. But we always do our best to
get our customers what they need,” he says.
Customers observe how Duddy’s has always been able to strike
the balance between affordable and durable appliances, and Fuhrer agrees that
this is a delicate, but important, middle-ground: “People want good deals...
and there is an impossible amount of junk coming out of China which is cheap,
but will not last. Our customers know that if a product is on our shelves, they
can have confidence that they are getting a good deal, which will continue to
serve them for a long time.”
About those shelves... it is a wonder to behold how Duddy’s
is able to stock such a variety of housewares and electronics in a
relatively-small space on prime Fourteenth Avenue.
Says R’ Itche: “Every inch of our store is maximized, so we
can offer our customers any possible electronics they would wish for, at prices
they will be happy with.




























