Employee Directory

A business is only as good as the people who work there. The following is our cast of characters:

Boncore, Bob

There are a few upsides to the recession and weak recovery that have gripped out country for the last two years. One of them is that we were able to hire Bob part time until he can find a real job. He hopes to get a job in law enforcement. Meanwhile, he keeps us on the straight and narrow. 

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Casella, Matt

After graduating high school, Matt bounced around a little before landing with us in 2008. Matt has learned a lot in the last two years; some of it is even useful! He's been working out at the gym in his spare time, so don't mess with him. 

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Fulton, Dave 

Dave graduated Ramapo College in 2005 and now works full time for a local company that administers government grants and applications. We found him carrying a sign that said, "Will Work for Coronas!" We knew he was our kind of guy. In 2007 Dave took the wine course that we offer through the Ridgewood Community School. He is our most eligible bachelor.

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Hamlin, Sean

Sean has been with Beekmans part time since 1995. He works for the Village of Ridgewood full time. His wine knowledge and appreciation were greatly enhanced when he completed an introductory wine course in 1998 and Sommelier courses in 2002 and 2009. Sean is as dedicated as he is knowledgeable. He is also the one to ask if you have any beer or tequila questions. After his wedding, Sean spent his honeymoon, where else? At a chateau in Bordeaux! Sean spends most of his free time with his lovely two-year old daughter, Eden.

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Karger, Barry

Barry has been with us since 1999. He has a reputation as our resident wine "geek." An English professor by day and wine lover by night, Barry is enthusiastic about wine as well as educating and serving our customers. His motto is: "Can we help?"

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McIntosh, Dave

David worked for Beekmans for 41 years before becoming disabled in 2009. Dave was born in Glen Rock and graduated from Glen Rock High School. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, he  began working for Beekmans in May of 1968 as a stock clerk and delivery person. Eventually he became the store manager. With his outgoing personality and literally life long association with Glen Rock, Dave is known by almost everyone in town. Knowledgeable and committed to helping customers, Dave personified the Beekman spirit. He still stops in to give us all hell!

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Mitchel, Joel

Don't be scared off by this picture! Joel is the owner of Beekmans and has been "Mr. Wine" at here since 1986. A licensed Sommelier, he teaches the introductory wine course that we offer through the Ridgewood Community School, writes the monthly newsletter, and can be blamed for this web site. He also directs a wine tasting group in the area. His motto is: "I don't care about the label on the bottle; I care about the quality inside."

Judie Mitchel, RN: Joel's muse, best friend, and wife. She has nothing to do with the store except to pass judgment on samples of wine that we consider for the store.

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Mitchel, Stanley & Bernice

  

Stan passed away in 2008. Affectionately called Sam Q. Beekman, Stan founded our store back in 1956. The woman behind (or next to) the man is his wife, Bernice. People often ask how we got our name. The answer is that in the early 1950s Stan and a partner bought a liquor store in Englewood, N.J. The seller had named the Englewood store "Beekmans" because he lived on Beekman Place in Manhatten. Stan and his partner kept the name and extended it to the new store they bought in Glen Rock. Eventually the partnership was dissolved, with Stan taking the Glen Rock store. (The Englewood store still bears the name, although it has had several owners since then.) Stan's motto was, "Thank you for flying Beekmans!" For more information see below

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Parkerson, Dave

Dave graduated from William Paterson University in 2008 and has been working part time for us since July of that year. With the weak economy, he has been unable to find a real job, so he is still with us and has just been promoted to assistant manager. A hard worker and a fast learner, Dave represents Beekmans very well.

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Ritter, Bonnie

        

Bonnie is our unsung heroine. She is responsible for bookkeeping, payroll, and numerous other unseen and under-appreciated jobs. She also does our statement mailings for charge account customers as well as our monthly newsletter mailing.

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Stanley Mitchel, the founder of Beekmans, passed away in December, 2008 at the age of 85.

Stan and Bernice with bottle of wine (Spaltenna Chianti
Classico) at their 60th wedding anniversary party in 2006

Stanley Mitchel, founder of Beekman Wines and Liquors, died in Lauderhill, Florida on December 30th, 2008 at the age of 85 after a year-long battle with gastric cancer and lymphoma. A longtime resident of Paramus and then Wayne before moving to Florida, Stan spent over 35 years working in Glen Rock. A fixture and an icon around town, he was known for stinky cigars, shmoozing, and an always hopeful (but in truth mediocre) golf game.

Stan was a local character. An early believer in recycling, once he found a joke or humorous comment or observation, he used it many times. First-time hearers always laughed; after the 20th telling, family members still smiled or chuckled appreciatively. He loved to tease, he loved to talk, and he was very insightful about politics and business, both local and national.

Stan was born and raised in Brooklyn. His father, a furrier, had come to this country from Russia or Poland (depending on what year it was), while his mother had been born in Palestine. When Stan was a teenager, his father moved the family to Wharton, NJ and opened a children’s clothing store in Dover. Stan attended Brooklyn College until the outbreak of World War II when he joined the precursor of the Air Force, working as a tool and dye maker at Picatinny Arsenal.

At war’s end, he married Bernice Stern of Brooklyn, to whom he had been introduced by a relative. Stan took a job delivering matzoh to stores and restaurants in Brooklyn; he hated it. A son, Joel, was the couple's first anniversary present. The family soon moved to Bergen County where, with a partner, Stan bought Beekman Liquors in Englewood. The previous owner had given it that name because he lived on Beekman Place in Manhattan.

A daughter, Bonnie, was born to Stan and Bernice in 1951. The business partnership bought a small deli/liquor store on Rock Road in Glen Rock in 1956 and renamed it Beekman Wines and Liquors. The partnership soon dissolved with Stan taking the Glen Rock store. When she wasn’t tending to the children, Bernice was the bookkeeper. Bonnie would later take over that function.

Although Stan loved the liquor/wine part of the business (he actually looked forward to going to work each day), he hated the deli portion and took the then-bold step of getting rid of the deli. He bought the property, and in the mid-1960s he took over the part of the building that had been a beauty parlor (now the wine room and office), put on the current brick facing, and expanded the store out the back. Stan, along with manager Andrew Frappolli, began to emphasize the wine segment of what was then primarily a hard liquor and beer industry.

After Andy left to work for the Opici Wine Group, Dave MacIntosh became manager. Joel entered the business in 1986, and Stan cut back his hours. Despite retiring in the early 1990s, he kept a watchful eye on things and always had advice for Joel and Dave. Stan and Bernice sold their Paramus home in 1999 and moved to Wayne while maintaining a winter residence in Florida. They moved to Florida full time in 2007. Bernice and Stanley Mitchel were married for 62 years.

 


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Revised: January 9, 2009.