Leiser Furniture

Family-owned for four generations, the store’s beginning traces back to the 1800’s. Woolfe Leiserowitz, who was born in Shovel, Russia, on Jan. 16, 1866, came to this country as a poor immigrant boy. Even though he could speak little English, he set about earning a living as a pack peddler, traveling from farmhouse to farmhouse. He came to Herscher from Cullom in 1892 and established a business, originally known as Leiser Department Store, which would eventually be operated by brothers Mandel and Maurice Leiser. The latter would also serve as Herscher’s mayor for 28 years. A youth athletic field is named in his honor. A street in Herscher also bears the Leiser name. Today, the store is still operated by the Leiser family, who have preserved and expanded the store’s patented scavenger hunt shopping experience.