C-Mart keeps it all in the family.
A business that was started in 1971 by E. Douglas Carton, C-Mart began as a small shop that offered distressed merchandise. Today, Douglas? nephew Keith Silberg, the operating owner of C-Mart, is expanding the vision. A retailer for high-end distressed merchandise from all over the country, Joppatowne-based C-Mart has added high-end discount furniture to its inventory. It is now in the process of opening a 120,000-square-foot sister-store in Landover on Feb. 17.
“Adding the furniture was sort of my first contribution above running the business and now, opening the store in Landover, its really been my pet project over the past 2 1/2 years,” Silberg said. “The goal here was to be able to move an hour closer to Bethesda, Rockville and Potomac and keep the prices the same.”
In Maryland, the most recent numbers of the retail business point to it being a nearly $85 billion industry. C-Mart gets its part of the pie by dealing in distressed merchandise. While the thought of buying a product that was involved in an accident disturbs some people, Silberg points out that any damage to an item on the floor was acquired there. He adds that C-Mart usually only keeps about 65 percent of any wholesale purchases they make, donating part of the un-sellable portion to charity.
“The way we acquire goods is through very opportunistic situations, such as insurance losses or bankruptcies,” Silberg said. “We don?t sell really anything damaged.”
The new C-Mart location is right in front of Fed Ex Field. Featuring 20,000 square feet more than the Joppatowne location, the store will emphasize its high-end furniture, something that has become a popular draw. According to Tom Saquella, the president of the Maryland Retailers Association, the demand at C-Mart for furniture is a little out of the ordinary, with many stores feeling the crunch of what experts are calling a stagnant housing market.
“I would say the retailers that are hurting the most right now are the furniture stores because of the slowdown in the home market,” Saquella said.
