MOUNT VERNON — The owners of Mount Vernon Hardware Co. have broken ground on a new warehouse rental building on West Gambier Street.
Joe Caplin, who co-owns the building along with his brother, Tom Caplin, said the new warehouse, Mount Vernon Hardware Storage, will be about 3,600 square feet in size, with spaces of 5-by-10 feet, as well as 10-by-10, 15-by-10 and 10-by-20 in size available for rent. He said the advantage of the largest size space is its ability to hold large possessions such as a vehicle or a boat.
Caplin said work began last Wednesday and he expects it to be finished by the middle of May. He said he and his brother wanted to put their vacant lot to good use.
Tom Caplin added that they wanted to help upgrade the business section of the western side of the downtown and encourage people to shop there.
Tom and Joe Caplin took over the business about six years ago. Prior to that, it had been Farmers Exchange for over 80 years, and, according to Tom, many people still call it that. In addition to hardware supplies, Mount Vernon Hardware Co. sells plumbing, electrical, lawn and garden supplies as well as firearms, nightcrawlers for fishing and landscaping stones. The brothers will soon add live bait to the inventory.
In other business news:
•Friedman’s Inc., which operated 455 retail jewelry stores under the Friedman’s and Crescent brands, is conducting a court-ordered bankruptcy liquidation sale which began April 5, according to a statement from the company. The sale was ordered by the bankruptcy court as a result of Friedman’s Chapter 11 filing earlier this year and is being managed by a consulting group consisting of three leading national retail liquidation and asset recovery firms.
Friedman’s has been in business for 88 years. Harvey Yellen, chairman of Great American Group, one of the three consulting firms, expressed appreciation to Friedman’s employees and called the liquidation sale unfortunate. Phone calls to the local Friedman’s store at 1538 Coshocton Ave. were not returned.
•Ruth Handelman, spokeswoman for Licking/Knox Goodwill Industries, said there will be a grand opening for the new Mount Vernon Goodwill store at 60 W. Parrott St. on Friday, May 2. She said the 12,000-square-foot store will be 3,000 square feet larger than the company’s store in Newark. She said there will be prizes and promotions as part of the grand opening celebration.
