Dora Piatigorsky Birlant
After her separation from her husband, Israel Birlant, in about 1905, the very enterprising Mrs. Dora “Darby” Piatigorsky Birlant (1852–1936) opened her first dry goods store below her apartment at 529 King Street. In a few years, she had moved her residence here to 516 King Street (building has since been extensively remodeled or replaced), where she kept a millinery shop managed by her daughter, Fredericka Birlant. A daughter of Dvosy and Jacob (Piatigorsky) Jacobs (Dvosy and Jacob changed their surname from Piatigorsky to Jacobs), Dora Birlant ran a dry goods store at 547 King Street; her son, George C. Birlant, was the bookkeeper for both businesses. He eventually came into the business as his mother’s partner, in D. Birlant & Son, dry goods and ladies’ merchandise, at 455 King Street. D. Birlant & Son closed in late 1921. George Birlant soon began his own antiques business, George C. Birlant & Co. at 191 King Street.