Glen Ellyn carpet shop closes after 46 years
In 1965, George Karmis started selling appliances from a storefront in downtown Glen Ellyn. But bigger stores made it hard to compete, so Karmis decided to refocus his efforts on selling carpeting.
That turned out to be a successful decision, and it helped his family business gain a following among locals.
But Karmis Carpet and Rugs closed shop for good March 31 after 46 years in the Glen Ellyn and Wheaton areas. This time, the business couldn’t overcome another obstacle faced by mom and pop stores and larger businesses alike: the struggling economy.
“Small retail in a small town is becoming harder to maintain,” said Chris Karmis, who helped run the business along with siblings John, Jim and Sharon. Their father passed away in 1999.
The Karmis family saw a decrease in consumer demand for everything they sold: carpeting, area rugs and hard surface flooring. The past three years have been especially difficult, even as they’ve spent the same amount of time on a highly visible commercial strip on Roosevelt Road.
Ultimately, the demand for flooring is discretionary, Chris Karmis said, and consumers aren’t spending like do they do in better economic times.
“We ended up making a business decision,” he said.
The business has moved over the course of 46 years, and much has changed in that time. Its original location in a cinder block building at 519 N. Main St. is now a condominium. After some time at 218 W. Front St. in Wheaton, it came back to downtown Glen Ellyn in 1985 at 530 Pennsylvania Ave. The family decided to relocate to its final location at 682 E. Roosevelt Road alongside other businesses.
“The business climate downtown was not the commercial district it was,” Karmis said. “Now it’s a service district.”
But the store was fairly successful over the course of its history. Karmis said it developed a good word-of-mouth reputation and had several repeat buyers. He remembers taking out old carpets and installing new ones in the same houses.
“There can be three to four people in one house in 40 years,” he said.
And while consumers may not be spending as much on their flooring today, Karmis thinks they will eventually.
“Everybody has a floor and they all wear out in one fashion or another. There will always be demand,” Karmis said. “People are interested in what we sell. They’re just not interested in it today.”