The new retail chain, based in Brookfield near Youngstown, is owned by a group of developers headed by J.J. Cafaro. The company will open its first store near Youngstown in July with six additional store openings planned for this year.
According to Dayton Mall marketing director Dave Casper, the new store will feature moderate price points on home accessories for kitchen, bath and bedroom.
The store has a gift and home decor section, a sleep shop featuring mattresses, and a candle shop. It will stock 150 comforter styles, thousands of towel varieties, and 28 lines of name brand cookware.
Mershad, who lives in the Miami Valley, was credited with bringing Elder-Beerman out of bankruptcy protection and overseeing its return to Wall Street. He joined the company in 1997 after leaving the Proffitt’s division of Saks where he served as president and CEO. He retired from Elder-Beerman as chairman, president and chief executive on Dec. 31, 2001. He was executive-in-residence at the University of Dayton’s MBA program.
The Mershads are an entrepreneurial local family: Fred Mershad’s wife, Linda and daughter, Lee, run Paintbrush Pottery in Springboro. Son Michael owns Michael Mershad’s Tae Kwon Do Academy in Springboro.
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