BUFFALO, N.Y. — George & Company, one of Western New York’s oldest continuously operating family businesses will be closing its retail store on Transit Road in Williamsville by the end of the year and become an online retailer only.

George & Company was on Main Street in downtown Buffalo for nearly a century before moving to Williamsville, and over the decades became a Western New York institution offering Halloween costumes, magic tricks, chess sets, and novelty and gag gifts.

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"It was a tough decision," confirmed George Smilanich III, whose Grandfather founded the business.

"It had been called Buffalo Novelty Bazaar when it opened on Swan Street in 1901," he explained. "When my grandfather came from Yugoslavia he

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