Do you remember the Clarkins chain of discount department stores?
Longtime residents of Lorain and the neighboring cities probably remember the store on Leavitt Road, where the Lorain City Airport (Long’s Airport) used to be.
But the honor of the first Clarkins store in Lorain County goes to Elyria. The store opened on Wednesday, November 17, 1971.
The Journal did its part by dedicating two full pages to the Grand Opening. The first page ran on November 15, 1971 and featured photos of several Clarkins employees, including Pam Justin, Rosemary Drayler and Jose E. Torres.
****
On April 30, 1981 – a little less than ten years after the Elyria Clarkins store opened – it was announced in the Chronicle-Telegram that both it and the Lorain store would be closing along with all of the other Ohio stores in a few months.
By June 19, the final closeout sale for all eleven Ohio stores was underway. More than a thousand Clarkins employees lost their jobs.
The Lorain Clarkins store was converted to a factory for the PC Campana group with the help of a $200,000 state grant that was approved by the Ohio Department of Economic Development in March 1987.
 |
| A recent view of the former Lorain Clarkins store |
