Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991 TAG: 9104120052
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINDA LOVINGOOD/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He reached that conclusion after earning a degree in biology from Virginia Tech and working several years in research labs. He went back to school, Virginia Commonwealth Univerity, earned his master of business administration degree and bought into his mother's business.
Evelyn Marshall opened the original The Second Yard in Charlottesville in 1977. She had no business experience - her degrees were in biology and counseling - but had always loved pretty fabrics and was looking for something to do besides volunteer work after her children left home.
The Second Yard deals in discount decorator fabrics, wallpaper, carpet and other furnishings for the home and office, such as lamps, art prints, furniture and Oriental rugs. The shop also offers professional decorating services.
The Charlottesville store was so successful that Evelyn Marshall opened stores in Northern Virginia (now in Old Towne Alexandria) and Virginia Beach.
Her son bought the Virginia Beach store and, a little less than a year ago, opened The Second Yard in Roanoke.
"We chose Roanoke because it is a highly populated area and is easily accessible to Charlottesville. With only a few other fabric stores like The Second Yard in Roanoke, we saw a need and the potential for growth. Also, we were able to find and buy the kind of building we wanted," Marshall said.
As with the three other The Second Yard stores, the Roanoke shop is in a quaint old building. The structure at 2211 Crystal Spring Ave., which had been home to the Roanoke Beauty Parlor, had been vacant for several years when Marshall bought and renovated it.
Both he and his mother favor the high ceilings, hardwood floors and other architectural details found in older buildings. "They help to show off the fabric and give the feeling of being at home," he explained.
The store opened last May, just as the economy slowed and talk of war in the Persian Gulf began. Although the shop got off to a slower start than expected, Marshall said he has been pleased with its overall first-year performance. He also has been impressed with the quality of the employees he has been able to hire in Roanoke.
"They are most qualified and have all learned and grown in their jobs. I know it hasn't always been easy for them. We don't have a formal training program, so they've had to pretty much wing it from day one," Marshall said, referring to Cynthia Hamilton, the store manager, and the two other full-time and four part-time employees.
Once the Roanoke store is well established, Marshall plans to open yet another The Second Yard store. He says his plans are not motivated by dreams of one day owning a fabric-store empire, but by common sense: "The more locations you have, the more stable your business. You never know when you could lose one store."
by CNB