Keith Silberg is carrying on the tradition.
The operating owner of C-Mart, a retailer of high-end distressed merchandise, Silberg is part of the fourth generation of his family to run the business. Silberg?s great-grandfather began things informally during the early 1900s, but the business didn?t take off until C-Mart was officially started by his uncle, E. Douglas Carton, in 1971.
The store became so popular, it grew from its original store in Bel Air to its Joppatowne location. On Saturday, a new, 120,000-square-foot location that has been Silberg?s baby will open its doors in Landover.
“This was a really difficult decision because each generation takes the burden of the business on their shoulders in an effort to make it the most they can,” said the 34-year-old.
Under Silberg, who joined his father and uncle in running the company about 11 years ago, C-Mart expanded both its product line and its locations.
Aside from the growth, Silberg added furniture to apparel sales.
When Silberg initially came to the family business in 1996, he made his niche taking trips south and connecting with high-end distressed furniture wholesalers. From these connections, he established a pipeline of goods.
“Keith?s continuing to carry the philosophy of good business, good practice and the mission of the family to always be responsible and good-natured and good-hearted,” said Stuart Silberg, Keith?s father.
Originally, Silberg had no intentions of joining the family business, going to school for art and advertising at the University of Miami in the early 1990s, and then working in New York.
Silberg enjoys spending time with his family whenever he gets the opportunity to step away. Whether he?s spending time with his sons, 5-year-old Dash, 3-year-old Fletcher, or eagerly anticipating the birth of his daughter, the family that Silberg is building with his wife, Heidi, is proving to be his smartest move.
“The best decision I ever made was to marry my wife,” he said.
Keith Silberg
» First job: Worked the hot dog stand at Owings Mills Mall at 14
» Education: University of Miami, Fla., art and advertising
» Best job perk: Getting to indulge furniture-buying fantasies
» Daily e-mails received: 100 to 150
» Essential Web sites: c-martdiscount.com
» Career objective: To make the stores in Landover and Baltimore work successfully together
» Favorite gadget: Cell phone
» Hometown: Stevenson
» Birth date: Feb. 5, 1973
» Original aspirations: To make it big
» Sports/hobbies: Family and job
