Pan Am AWARE store - Featured in newspaper article

The following article by Glenn Singer appeared in the September 2, 2006 edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Our thanks to Mr. Singer for providing us with the article and to the Sun-Sentinel for allowing us to share the article in its entirity.

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Store's pan amour
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Shop offers nostalgia buffs memorabilia of extinct airline.

Mary Goshgarian runs a store that's hidden from public view and sells
merchandise publicizing an extinct business. Yet, for airline nostalgia
buffs, hers is the place to visit in Miami.

Goshgarian, 82, oversees the Pan Am Aware shop, which features a variety of
goods commemorating the 64-year life of Pan American World Airways Inc.
Begun in 1927 with flights from Key West to Havana, Cuba, the airline
succumbed to bankruptcy in 1991, three years after a bomb brought down its
Flight 103 above Lockerbie, Scotland.

"Pan Am was such a wonderful company. Many people who come to the store like
to share fond memories," said Goshgarian, who worked at the airline's
Clipper Club member lounge at Miami International Airport for 35 years.

She worked in the club from 4 p.m. to midnight, but also volunteered at the
store three days a week before her workday began. When Pan Am collapsed, she
kept the place going with the help of a few other volunteers.

Situated in the Pan Am International Flight Academy building at 5000 NW 36th
St., on a corner of Miami International, the store features a combination of
original items, reproductions and new products adorned with the Pan Am logo.
Even though a small carrier on the East Coast is using the airline name
today, the Pan Am Aware volunteer organization retains rights to the
insignia, Goshgarian said.

The Pan Am store is nestled on the second floor of the flight academy, which
remained open after Pan Am's demise as an airline. American Capital
Strategies, a private equity firm, recently paid $58 million for a
controlling interest in the academy's commercial division, which trains
fliers from around the world.

"We have pilots stopping in here all the time looking for a piece of Pan Am
memorabilia," Goshgarian said. "We get calls from all over, too. I got one
the other day from someone who wanted to know if we had original coffee
mugs.

"The connection wasn't very good, so I asked him where he was calling from.
He said he was in the Air Force and serving in Iraq. He sure must have
wanted that coffee mug pretty badly."

The store has a selection of original items, including Pan Am dishes,
silverware, water pitchers, commemorative plates, amenity kits, eyeshades,
socks and occasionally scarves. Former employees sometimes donate old
uniforms, which sell quickly.

There also are dozens of new items, including jackets, T-shirts,
sweatshirts, aprons, towels, key chains, shaving and cosmetics kits,
calendars, umbrellas and clocks.

Over the years, the store has brought in a tidy chunk of change, which
Goshgarian hopes will help pay for a museum in South Florida that will honor
Pan Am.

Jeff Kriendler of Miami Beach, a board member of the Pan Am Historical
Foundation, said discussions have been held with the Historical Foundation
of Southern Florida about creating an aviation and maritime museum, perhaps
on Watson Island.

"This would not be a Pan Am museum per se, but the airline certainly would
enjoy great prominence there," said Kriendler, who was Pan American's vice
president of corporate communications in New York.

For now, though, aside from a collection of historical Pan Am materials at
the University of Miami, Pan Am Aware is the place for rekindling memories
of what was "The World's Most Experienced Airline."

"That little store represents Pan Am as it exists today -- in the memories
of thousands and thousands of people," Kreindler said.

The Pan Am Aware store is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The phone
number is 305-871-1028.

Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel