Carpet Warehouse to move

Store leaving Leavitt Road, heading to Broadway Avenue

A Lorain business looking for room to expand has found a new home — in Lorain.

Carpet Warehouse Outlet LLC is a mainstay in Lorain at 3000 Leavitt Road for more than 17 years.

The company needs room to grow, so it will move to the former Goodwill building at 1600 Broadway, said CEO H.A. “Al” Vargas, a Lorain resident since 1949.

This week, Vargas went public with plans outlined in a letter to Mayor Chase Ritenauer.

On May 11, Vargas also discussed the company’s move, effective June 1.

The company has nine full time employees serving the region from Toledo east to Akron and south to Columbus, he said.

The customer base could allow the company to relocate and expand anywhere in between, Vargas said.

“In fact, we have viewed buildings in Avon and North Ridgeville that offered us, not only a newer more up-to-date building, but also giving us a more centralized location to service our customers,” Vargas said.

Even so, Lorain offers access to major highways and the potential of vast resources to grow, he said.

The company has a

“strong commitment to the

community and conviction to the revitalization of the downtown area in Lorain,” Vargas said.

He thanked the community for helping the company achieve success.

“This move can be considered a stepping stone toward a brighter future, toward the rebirth of the downtown,” Vargas said. “Our relocation offers major remodeling and improvements to a once empty decaying building within the downtown area.”

Vargas, an interior designer by trade, has had the company for 15 years.

He said Carpet Warehouse is the largest stock dealer in Ohio, with 1,000 rolls in stock.

The new building, about 23,000 square feet in size, will double the space available.

The company will add a mattress section and some furniture, Vargas said.

The former Goodwill building has been gutted and will get new lighting, walls, floors, paint and an outside coat of paint, he said.

“It’s all going to be done first class,” Vargas said.

Meanwhile, the company is having a moving sale, so there is less to carry across town.

“We save the consumers a lot of money by buying here,” Vargas said. “If they shop and come back here, there’s savings. That’s the reason for our existence.”

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Carpet Warehouse Outlet has become a mainstay on Leavitt Road, but it will move to the former Goodwill building at 1600 Broadway to find room to grow. The company will move effective June 1.