Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993 TAG: 9307290062
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
But now Sherman is more concerned with next week's reopening.
He recalled rushing to the North Franklin Street location of Sherman's and Smithman's in April, but could only watch as firefighters carried smoldering items from the building.
"I took one look, saw the smoke rolling out of the building and knew all the merchandise was lost," Sherman said. "I immediately started thinking about how we could rebuild."
The fire - apparently caused by a furnace explosion - ravaged the stores, destroying $1 million in merchandise.
Soon after the smoke had cleared, Sherman developed a plan not just to renovate the twin stores - one called Smithman's and the other Sherman's - but to expand them.
"We decided to try and make something good come from something bad," he said. "We would have expanded anyway, but probably not this soon."
Carrying national brands of traditional clothing, the stores have established a customer base of more than 9,000 shoppers from across Western Virginia.
"We're not local. We have customers from all over," Sherman said. "We don't necessarily have the most popular lines; we like to go for a little higher quality."
Loyal customer Randall Gravely said he drives from Hillsville to shop at Sherman's because its prices are competitive and the clothes are high quality.
"They always seem very enthusiastic to make their customers happy," he said.
Sherman said he is excited about enlarging the store, but his biggest concern was getting back into business as soon as possible.
"We didn't want to wait until the addition was completed," he said.
So construction is being finished in phases.
The two stores will reopen Monday in the 5,600-square-foot space that housed the business before the fire while construction continues on the new section. Sherman hopes to move into the new space by next summer.
The rebuilt stores will have gas detectors, smoke alarms and a sprinkler system.
"I can't say there won't be another fire, but we'll be better equipped if there is," he said.
Since the fire, Sherman has set up a small office and retail showroom. That wasn't enough for some loyal customers who were eager for the stores to reopen.
Christiansburg resident Maxine Withers, a shopper at Smithman's for more than 15 years, said she has done without new clothes since April.
"Since the fire, I've had nowhere else to shop," she said. "I'll get the necessities at other places, but not much else."
Withers said she likes the store because the sales staff gives more personal attention than larger department stores.
"They take a little extra time like the old stores so customers are satisfied, and the sales people don't try to sell you anything you don't want."
Suits at Sherman's range from $200 to $500 and dresses at Smithman's from $50 to $200.
Sherman, who runs the stores with help from his wife, Ann, and two of his three sons, prides himself on offering exceptional service.
A North Carolina native, he has worked in retail sales since he came to Christiansburg in 1955 and got a job at Roses, then a five-and-dime.
"I've always enjoyed it, so I just kept at it," he said.
In 1961, he became manager of John Norman clothing store in Blacksburg. He stayed there six years before teaming with Sydney Palmer to open a men's and women's clothing store in Christiansburg. In 1969 he bought out Palmer and renamed the store Sherman's.
Soon after, he opened a women's clothing store nearby. He combined his wife's maiden name with his last name and called it Smithman's.
Sherman's has always carried both men's and women's fashions, while Smithman's has been solely a women's store. When the stores reopen, though, Sherman's will cater exclusively to men, shifting its women's lines to Smithman's.
Sherman said business at the stores has increased every year, despite a recession and the completion of the New River Valley Mall in 1988.
"Shopping malls have never been any concern of ours. We try to mind our business and do our job," he said. "If things aren't going right, the first person I look at is me. It's not the customer's fault and it's not the competitor's fault."
Jeff Wendell, owner of John Norman in Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County, said Sherman's - like every men's retail store in the area - is a competitor, but he doesn't think he loses many customers to Sherman's.
Wendell wasn't working at John Norman in 1966 when the retail chain's downtown Roanoke store was badly damaged by fire, but he's heard enough stories from his colleagues to feel sympathy with the Shermans.
"I got here in 1973 and the memories hadn't faded that much," he said. "It's just really devastating."
by CNB