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 A Marc's in Westerville, Ohio, as shown in 2019. | |
| Marc's Stores | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1979; 46 years ago (1979) inMiddleburg Heights, Ohio, U.S. |
| Founder | Marc Glassman |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 61 |
Area served | Ohio |
Key people | Marc Glassman (Chairman And Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli meats, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, produce, snacks, health and beauty products, pet supplies, housewares, books, children's toys, home decor, clothing |
| Services | |
| Revenue |  US$1.03 billion (2021) |
| Owner | Marc Glassman |
Number of employees | 3,000 (Jan. 2021) |
| Website | www |
Marc's Stores is a discountdrugstore-and-grocery chain, with stores in northern and centralOhio.[1] It is owned by Clevelander Marc Glassman. Marc's has over 60 stores in theCleveland,Akron,Canton,Youngstown, andColumbus areas.
Bernie Shulman opened his first mega-discount drug store in Mayfield Heights, Ohio in 1969. In 1979 one of Shulman's managers, Marc Glassman, opened his own store, Marc's, in Middleburg Heights in the Southland Shopping Center in Middleburg Heights.[2] That first store was badly damaged in a fire in October 1980 that started in, and destroyed, the adjacentJ.C. Penney department store. Marc's closed for several months, eventually reopening in a larger space at the same site.
Following the success of the Middleburg Heights store, Glassman built additional Marc's stores. In 1983, he purchased Shulman's store.[2] Glassman continued to build stores inGreater Cleveland. Glassman's western stores were named Marc's, while those to the east were namedBernie Shulman's, to honor Shulman, who died in 1976, and because of brand recognition.
As the Marc's stores expanded south toSolon and Akron, the recognition of theMarc's name grew. Glassman decided to retire theBernie Shulman's name for new stores, using theMarc's name forgrand openings, including stores east of Cleveland. The first of the Marc's "superstores" opened inGarfield Heights on June 30, 1992.[3] By year's end, allBernie Shulman's stores were rebranded.
On August 8, 2018, a Marc's store opened inKettering, a suburb ofDayton in southwestern Ohio, in a formerKroger site.[4][5] This store is scheduled to close on February 5, 2023, due to the ending of its lease.[6]
In March 2020, Glassman opened a 54,000-square-foot store at 3112 Cleveland Ave. NW in Canton to replace the store that had been in the 30th Street Plaza since the late 1980s.[7]
When I was in elementary school Kroger had scanners. The Internet existed, but it was a novelty. Several years later I’m in high school (which was nothing like High School Musical). I end up working at Marc’s. This is going to sound ludicrous, but they did not have scanners.
The company is rarely discussed in the media. Employees are prohibited from giving interviews, and Glassman does not speak toreporters.[8]
Glassman ownedXpect Discounts, in westernConnecticut, originally a seven-store chain that started as a drug store in the late 1980s, then expanded into a full grocery store. During the recent recessions, business slowed and the cost to operate in Connecticut continued to increase. Though still making increases in sales, Xpect started closingConnecticut stores in 2012-2013 and was reduced to three stores, and in early 2015 MGI stated that the remaining threeConnecticut stores would close and vacate by April 2016.[relevant?]
In the 1980s, Glassman also owned a small deli/grill restaurant next to theMiddleburg Heights/Southland store, jokingly branding it as Marc's No Name Restaurant. That restaurant closed when the Southland store expanded into the space occupied by the restaurant. A small grill was set up inside the Marc's store.
In 1987, Glassman purchased, at auction, aChuck E. Cheese, a restaurant/video game venue, in the Southland center, near the Marc's store. It was converted into Marc's Funtime Pizza Palace. Like Chuck E. Cheese, it was a popular place for children's birthday parties. About a year later, he purchased a second Chuck E. Cheese in nearby North Olmsted. When the Chuck E. Cheese franchise vacated the area, Glassman acquired and converted several venues in Greater Cleveland. By 2004, all of Marc's Funtime Pizza Palaces closed. The original Marc's Funtime at Southland was among the strip of stores that were demolished to build aBJ's Wholesale Club.
In 1994, Glassman purchased Dover Lake Waterpark in Sagamore Hills, Ohio, which he operated until 2005. The park was sold in 2006 to the Brandywine Ski Resort, which used the property for expansion.[9]