Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260011
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: megan schnabel staff writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Brothers Joe and Ellis Milan will be in the store today, greeting customers as they have ever since they and their late brother, Herbert, began working for their father decades ago.
But today's their last day. After helping the new owners get settled, the brothers will leave the new folks on their own.
As monumental as the turnover may be, don't expect any big surprises, said Don and Myriam Roy. The store, founded in 1912 by Joseph Milan Sr., will continue to bear the Milan name. And services offered by the Milans will continue under the new owners.
"We're not really going to change anything," said Don Roy, who with his wife owned a tobacco shop in Coral Gables, Fla., before moving to Roanoke.
They plan to expand the stock somewhat but will continue to carry the tobacco blends and cigars that are old favorites of loyal customers. They also will continue the shop's mail-order trade, which, by Don Roy's estimate, is responsible for 20 to 25 percent of the business.
Following in the footsteps of the well-known Milans is a daunting task. But while the shop may lose some customers - especially those who said they have planned to give up smoking and see the turnover as a perfect opportunity - the new owners think it won't be long before most of any skeptics are won over.
"Once people come in and see that we don't have two heads and we know what we're talking about, they'll come back," Don Roy said. "As long as you carry their product and enhance here and there, they know you're in the business to please and satisfy them."
The business will be in good hands, Joe Milan said.
"We felt they were someone capable of taking over a business like this," he said. The brothers wouldn't have consented to the sale if they hadn't been convinced of that, he said.
And it won't hurt that customers will be served by familiar faces. All of the store's employees - including Ellis Milan's son, Robert - will remain.
Although the three Milan brothers had been planning for some time to sell the store and retire, Joe Milan, 72, said it was Herbert's death in January that drove home the point for the remaining two.
The sale will leave the Milans free to pursue other interests - to have more of a life outside the shop - something that has become especially important after their brother's death.
"You come to the realization that there's roses to be smelled in other fields," Joe Milan said.
by CNB