By Mark Hallum
The Dinette & Furniture Center Inc. at 21621 Northern Blvd. will be closing its doors after 40 years in Bayside.
Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) presented the Iranian-born owner, David Yousefzadeh, and his family with a commemorative citation in honor of their years of excellence in the community Tuesday.
“The Dinette & Furniture Center has provided incredible service for years and will be sorely missed by the Bayside community,” Vallone said. “I wish David and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”
Yousefzadeh was born in Kashan, Iran, in 1944 and came to the United States to pursue his education. He had finished his graduate degree when he returned to Iran briefly to marry his wife, Madeline, in 1969.
He completed his Ph.D in physics from Kansas State University in the early 1970s. However, Yousefzadeh’s principles and the Vietnam War would impede his ultimate goal of practicing science. The war dominated the field in those days and Yousefzadeh stood by his pacifist values by instead teaching science in schools.
Once the young couple began having children, Yousefzadeh decided to go into business. Yousefzadeh has worked seven days a week at The Dinette & Furniture Center since it opened in 1978, Vallone’s office said, adding how the owner has served the community as a fair and humble salesman who takes care of his customers by providing the best information possible about products.
“David embodies the “American Dream,” Yousefzadeh’s daughter, Rebecca Sassouni, said. “He worked devotedly and tirelessly, served his customers, built a family with his wife and three daughters, and provided each child with wonderful college and graduate educations.”
The Dinette & Furniture Center will be closing at the end of January and will join various other businesses which have shuttered in Bayside in recent months with Party City on Bell and Northern Boulevard being the most recent closure.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
