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When Irving Zaslow (left) opened a small linen shop in 1931, he could only imagine that his son, Jerry, (right) would carry on his legacy as President of a cutting-edge software company, seventy years later.

This is the story of the son of an immigrant, a child prodigy, and how a Depression-era business blossomed into an E-Business enterprise for the Internet Economy.

That simple retail shop (Jaffe's Art Linens) selling pillowcases for eight cents apiece grew into a multi-million dollar wholesale distribution business called ATD-American Co. Click here to see an original price sheet, circa 1932.

As ATD expanded through the years, Irving brought his three sons, Jerry, Spencer, and Arnold into the business. Today, the three Zaslow brothers serve ATD as Executive Officers.

With priceless real-world experience and three Wharton School educations, the Zaslow brothers developed ATD-American into a thriving wholesale distribution and manufacturing business, specializing in textiles, furniture, correctional supplies and numerous other product lines. ATD currently employs over 150 people, with annual revenues exceeding 50 million dollars.

It was in 1968 that Irving Zaslow, then 81, planted the first seed of what was to become Skylight Systems. "My father urged me to find out about this emerging technology called computers," Jerry Zaslow recalls. "He thought they could improve the efficiency and profitability of the company. He turned out to be right."

Fast-forward to 1983, and enter Mike Rappaport (now Managing Director of Skylight Systems.) At 15, Mike began to lay the foundation of what became Relational Financial Systems (RFS), the realization of Jerry Zaslow's "wish list."

Working full-time as a programmer in ATD's IT department, Rappaport collaborated with Jerry Zaslow to develop software applications to automate ATD's order processing, accounting, inventory, purchasing, and order entry. The new system produced astounding results for ATD, enabling them to process 50% more orders immediately, and as the technology improved, so did the software. The greatest asset to ATD's business was the wealth of real-time financials and inventory availability that the system made accessible.

A pioneer in relational databases and client/server applications, Zaslow recognized the commercial viability of the ATD system. In 1988, ATD responded to the increased demand from the business community for its consulting and software development services by forming a new division called Skylight Systems.

Offering the commercialized version of ATD's system, Skylight Systems served the accounting and distribution needs of the corporate market, with such customers as ExxonMobil and PWI, a division of Midas. Relational Financial Systems also penetrated the public sector, providing solutions for the State of New Jersey Distribution and Support Services and the Alaska Department of Revenue.

Today, Skylight Systems faces the challenges of the "New Economy" with the expertise and experience of the Old Economy. With RFS E-Business software, Skylight addresses the emerging "click and mortar" business model, having adapted RFS for use on the Internet.

Merging superior technology and time-tested business knowledge, Skylight Systems is a unique blend of youth and experience. Old-fashioned business in the Internet Age, RFS puts the "commerce" in E-Commerce.

Business software by business people, RFS E-Business solutions can increase efficiency throughout the entire business process--from buying and selling to inventory control, real-time accounting, and order entry.