(Courtesy of The Sukkah Store) Ever wonder what it takes to build the perfect sukkah? No, it’s not just a few poles and some leafy decorations. We sat down with Yonah Bastomski, CEO of The Sukkah Store, to uncover the secrets of the trade. Spoiler alert: there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. Think engineering, international travel and a whole lot of customer surveys. Let’s dive in.
Yonah, how did you get into the sukkah business?
Honestly, growing up in Los Angeles, it’s pretty much “summer” 365 days a year, but Sukkot always brought an unmistakable festive buzz to the air, with sukkahs going up one by one in homes everywhere. It was something I instantly connected with.
So, we started by building sukkahs for people and pretty quickly, we noticed something … off. Sukkahs weren’t exactly user-friendly. Some were harder to assemble than IKEA furniture (and without the tiny Allen wrench!). Others looked like they’d been dragged out of a garage after 10 long winters. That’s when the lightbulb moment hit — we wanted to make sukkah building enjoyable, and dare I say, easy. And we wanted them to look good too! So, we decided to give people the ultimate sukkah experience from start to finish without the garage-rescue mission.
What do you do for the rest of the year? I mean, it’s just one week, right?
Ha! You’d think it’s just one week, but Sukkah season is a year-long endeavor. Our first year, we initially collaborated with external manufacturers, and let’s just say the results were, well, less than divine. So, what did we do? We packed our bags, went to China and took control of the process ourselves. We’ve got engineers working on it, testing, tweaking. From developing a series of galvanized steel frames to finding the most weatherproof combination of fabrics, or figuring out how to create a sukkah for tool-less assembly — there’s a whole sukkah science behind it now.
We’re always looking to improve. We run customer surveys like our lives depend on them. If there’s something we can do better, we want to know about it. It’s all part of our mission to deliver the perfect sukkah, which is why there’s no off-season in the pursuit of sukkah perfection.
What makes The Sukkah Store stand out?
One word: fairness. Look, we’re not here to sell you the cheapest thing and call it a day. We’re here to give you value. If that means using higher quality materials and spending a little
more time on customer service, so be it. We’re not out to nickel-and-dime anyone for a few extra bucks. That’s just not who we are.
The way we see it, if you focus on fairness, everything else falls into place. Our employees are happy, our customers are happy and the Sukkahs … well, they speak for themselves. Happy employees make for better customer service and that’s what really makes us stand out.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
Oh, that’s easy: watching it all come together. There’s nothing like seeing our whole team in action, bringing everything together seamlessly for both the customers and ourselves. It’s the ultimate Sukkot marathon and we’re racing to the finish line together.
But really, my favorite moment? When the vision we’ve built this company on becomes real. When I overhear a sales call and our team is genuinely passionate about what we’re doing — that’s a big win. They get it. They’re not just selling sukkahs; they’re selling an experience, the right experience. That’s when I know the values and dreams we built The Sukkah Store on are being realized. It’s like watching your sukkah go up without a single argument — priceless.
At the end of the day, The Sukkah Store isn’t just selling sukkahs, they’re crafting the ultimate sukkah experience. Whether it’s ensuring customers don’t need a Ph.D. in engineering to assemble one or making sure customer service is as sturdy as the frame itself, Yonah and his team are here to help. So next time you set up your sukkah, you can thank Yonah and his crew for making it just a little bit easier (and a lot more enjoyable).
