BARBIZON CAPITOL, INC.

World War II was over, and the soldiers were coming home. Young Sid Bloom and Sam Resnick stood on the deck of a troop ship steaming west across the Atlantic back to the States. The two men knew each other casually—their families were friendly back in Brooklyn—but the conversation they struck up during their passage back to the States would cement a lifelong friendship and give birth to a remarkably successful business. It was a time of optimism, a sense that as long as you worked hard and smart, you could find success. Sid and Sam talked about starting a business together. What kind of business? Well, everyone needs light bulbs, they thought. That settled it. They would go into the electrical supply business.