Locally renowned retailer C-Mart is set to become the latest casualty of a slumping economy.
The retailer will close its lone store in Joppa on Oct. 18, one of its owners said, bringing an end to 30 years of business in Harford County.
“[C-Mart owners] Dan Shuman and Brad Bondroff did everything they could with the struggle of having purchased a business in what will historically be considered the inflection point of the economic crisis the country finds itself in,” minority owner Keith Silberg said.
Silberg also disputed comments made by retail experts who said the discount retailer should have prospered in tough times.
“Despite the broad and baseless comments made by experts like Mark Millman, the difficult economy has and will continue to affect every business in one way or another, which is the key to C-Mart’s failure and not a means by which the store have prospered,” he said. “These guys fought tooth and nail and should be commended for their efforts.”
Silberg’s family, along with the Carton family, opened the store in Forest Hill in the 1970’s, operating at that location until moving to Joppa in 2005.
Baltimore-based online liquidator The Asset Store Inc. announced in July 2007 that they had acquired a majority interest in C-Mart,
Tom Saquella, president of the Maryland Retailers Association, blamed the poor economy, not the new ownership, for the store’s downfall.
“The retail conditions are the worst I can remember, and I’ve been in this job for 23 years,” he said.
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