We have been in business for over 32 years. Our business started in
1972 and we worked very hard every day to keep it growing and continue
providing the service that our clients deserve. With thousands of clients
worldwide, it is not easy to give each client the same courtesy and
care that they deserve. But we go out of our way to take care of our
clients we are proud to say that we value each and every one of them.
After all they are the reason we are still here.
Let us tell you how we really started. My father, Kyriakos Theodorou,
came to this country in 1955 with a vision for a better life for himself.
He came from a very small poor town that was situated in the Peloponnesian
area in Greece called Fourni.
I remember the stories that my father would tell me, as difficult as
it may have been for him, of the hardships that were endured by him
and his family. His mother had passed on very early in his life from
leukemia. His father was a seaman and worked on the ships that were
transporting mercantile throughout the world. He was rarely able to
come home, but sent money to his family as often as he could. My father
did the best he could as a child to help support himself and his sisters.
One of the saddest things that I had seen was an old photo taken of
him with classmates, barefoot. During the occupation of Greece by the
Nazis, Kyriakos and his family were able to survive hunger, death and
devastation. They were even able to avoid a line-up for execution in
which the Nazis were retaliating because of the death of a German S.S.
Officer.
There are several other stories my father told me, but they are not
only about hardships. For the most part the family survived. My father
was able to graduate and finish one of the top vocational/mechanical
schools. In 1955, Kyriakos was working on ships like his father, and
hit very bad weather. He decided that if he survived the severe weather
and trip that he would not to continue in that line of work. His opportunity
arose when he and his father were on an excursions and the ship docked
in New York City. My father took his pass, and told my grandfather that
he was not returning with him to Greece. Astonished, his father asked
him how he could do that, granted there was a relative in New York,
but how could he survive not knowing the language? With the determination
and stubbornness that my father was known for, he told my grandfather
that he would write and that he was not cut out to be a seaman and that
his destiny still lay ahead of him. So he looked up an aunt, surprised
her with his arrival, and began his new life. Many times he sat outside
of the apartment building wondering what he was going to do, thinking
about how he was going to survive.
My father slowly began to incorporate his plan. He worked as an auto
mechanic and at night he went to school to learn English. Within the
same year, 1955, he met and married my mother, Sophie. Over the course
of several years to follow, he became very well known and gained a well
deserved reputation as being a “Top Mechanic”, especially
around the Wall St. area. As the years passed, I was born in 1965 and
named after my grandfather, Vasilios. It turned out that one day a friend
of a friend of my father’s directed him to the Hudson Valley area.
With the money that my parents had saved, they were able to buy into
a business that was near the main gate to West Point. It was know back
then as the West Point Arms Hotel. This was a huge establishment that
not only housed the hotel. It was home to the biggest bar, a restaurant
and a small souvenir shop as well. At that time, we still lived in the
city and my dad would make the commute back and forth twice a week.
On Fridays, and when I had off from school, he would come down to pick
us up so we could spend time with him up in Highland Falls. He remained
in that area for a few years.
When the Vietnam War came to an end and some of the soldiers that lived
in the area came home, the bar scene became to rough for him. There
were a few bar fights that my dad was involved in. At one point, he
suffered a blow to one of his eyes, causing damage. Kyriakos decided
that this was too much for him and he ended up selling the business
to the existing military insurance company that is there today. My father
moved further down on Main Street and opened up “Vasily’s”.
Both of my parents have worked very hard, through the good times and
bad times, never taking a vacation, and staying opened seven days a
week. I decided to come into the business after two years of college
and worked for my father until he decided I was ready to take over the
family business in 1993. Since then we have renovated, and we are always
looking to better the business and try to serve our customers and the
West Point community to the best of our ability. When my father started
the business he had but two hats, some showcases of souvenir type items,
4 sweatshirts and a few T-shirts. Today, on our website alone we offer
over 600 items. My parents, which I am fortunate to still have, are
still helping out as much as they can. Over the years, we have made
so many friends, and have even met celebrities. We have met so many
parents, as well as Cadets. We have met parents over the time frame
of the four years that their child attends the academy. It has been
one of the best experiences, and one of the most fulfilling. Even in
some instances, we had the opportunity to see returning parents that
shared with us stories of their Cadet’s careers after graduation,
almost making us feel like family.
As much as I wanted to tell every detail, obviously I could not here.
What details I was able to outline here I do to show how one man’s
great effort, determination, perseverance and being in a land of great
opportunity, made him the success that he is… This I dedicate
to my father, Kyriakos Theodorou.
