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This article presents a profile of Ohio-based businesswomen Dana Samoly. Petite and polished, the 33-year-old Ohio City woman looks nothing like Macho Man Randy Savage, who for years has been encouraging us to "snap into a Slim Jim." Samoly's startup, Gourmet Jerky Ltd., aims to market beef jerky as much more than a salty snack that traditionally hangs near the lottery tickets and cigarettes at convenience store checkouts. Today, Gourmet Jerky is the holding company for Dana's Udderly Delicious Moo Moo Jerky & Smokies, a line of treats Samoly has been peddling to grocers, convenience stores and other retailers.

The article reports on business organization Weiss Furs. For Weiss Furs, the longtime Cleveland outerwear retailer that opened its first store in 1889 on Superior Avenue downtown, it has been a year of warm returns — even in bone-chilling Alaska. In October, Weiss doubled its square footage at Beachwood Place mall, moving into new, 6,500-square-foot digs on the second level Nordstrom wing. Also this year, the company opened its second Chicago-area store and its first in Sitka, Alaska, a cruise resort town 3,600 miles from where Weiss started 115 years ago.

This article presents information on the takeover of National Construction Services (NCS) LLC, by a Dallas competitor. The takeover has the potential to create more than 40 local jobs. avaco Inc. announced last Monday, Nov. 1, that it had bought NCS, which already employs 60, in an effort to boost its Midwest presence. NCS president Bryon Hamad said both companies specialize in helping national retailers build stores and roll out new designs, and at times have competed for the same projects. Davaco CEO Rick Davis said his company already had a strong presence in the Northeast and Southeast markets.

Cliff Reynolds' retail résumé includes the failure of Valley View-based hardware enterprise D.I.Y. Home Warehouse Inc., which couldn't nail down a following outside Ohio. Launched in 1984, D.I.Y. at its peak had 16 stores, but only six when it tanked in 2002. The success of larger players such as Home Depot and Lowe's doomed D.I.Y., and what once seemed to be a solid regional business was overtaken by national companies with greater resources to penetrate more markets. Now with Brunswick leisure products peddler LHP Inc., Reynolds has a second chance to run a local retailer.

The competition to please those who pamper their pets is growing a bit crowded in Northeast Ohio as Pet Supermarket Inc., a Florida-based retailer of specialty products, moved into the Cleveland market. Already open in Richmond Heights and Strongsville with locations soon to follow in Rocky River, Shaker Heights and Stow, Pet Supermarket joins Phoenix-based Petsmart and Michigan-based Pet Supplies Plus as major market players. Petsmart, the largest of the three, has more than 660 nationwide stores that average 19,000 square feet in size. Petsmart has nine area stores, but none in Richmond Heights, Strongsville or any of the other towns in which Pet Supermarket plans to open.

Jim and Eileen Leverentz are owners of Leeners, a Northfield housewares retailer. The four-person company has seen a rise in sales of late, thanks largely to a profile last November in the jouranl "The Wall Street Journal." The surge fueled a move this month to a larger showroom on Olde Eight Road. Mr. Leverentz said the new store is 3,700 square feet. Now Mr. and Mrs. Leverentz envision a brand name that will grace not only their new store, Web site and make-your-own kits, but also instructional videos to be filmed from their kitchenette showroom.

If the courted Cole National Corp. cuts ties with Target Corp., one equity analyst said he believes the Twinsburg-based optical and gift retailer will boost its value for prospective suitors. Cole, which in October received a $320 million unsolicited takeover bid from an unidentified company, last week announced it would re-examine its leasing agreement with the big discount chain. Cole operates 265 eye-care outlets inside Target stores nationwide, but estimates the partnership has cost it $7 million in operating losses this year. Dropping Target when the leasing agreement expires on January 31 would saddle Cole with $22 million in severance charges, but analyst Jeffrey Stein of Cleveland's McDonald Investments Inc. sees it as a worthwhile move for the company. However, Mr. Stein said negotiations with Target might yield a more positive leasing deal for Cole, which could keep its partnership with the retail giant intact under the right circumstances.

As the recession wanes and consumers cautiously head back to the stores, shopping mall developers and merchants are expecting better turnout in 2003 in Cleveland, Ohio. Surveys show consumers are more confident in the economy and one trade group predicts a 4% sales increase from last year. Bob Giarda, the retail marketing manager at Beachwood Place, said he is particularly encouraged by the 2003 holiday preview from the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York City-based trade group. The report predicts a 4% rise in non-auto retail sales this year for the holiday shopping season.

The article reports that Arhaus, the Walton Hills home furniture retailer with 25 stores spread across 10 states, has launched a branding identity campaign that combines interactive marketing with childhood nostalgia. Growing up, Arhaus creative director Pieter O' Brien loved Highlights for Children, particularly the puzzles where readers had to find all the hidden objects in a picture. So, for Arhaus' first catalog of 2005, O' Brien had photographers pose penguins with the company's handcrafted beds, chairs and couches.

The article reports that Throwbacks are pushing forward retail merchandise sales for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that represents the latest hope for the city's first professional sports championship in more than 40 years. Overall, the team reported last week that merchandise sales are up more than 10% versus last season, during which LeBron James became the NBA's top rookie and the Cavs contended, albeit unsuccessfully, for a playoff berth. Cavaliers officials hope five future Hardwood Classics home games in which the players will wear the Richfield jerseys will keep sales swift.

This article reports that New York & Co., a women's apparel and accessories chain, has begun going-out-of-business sales. The retailer's stores at Westgate Mall in Fairview Park and downtown Cleveland's Tower City Center are expected to close when leases at both expire on January 31. The departures would be the latest at the two malls, which are contending with competition for tenants from trendier lifestyle centers in the suburbs. Lisa Kreiger, the mall's general manager of retail, remained hopeful last week that Forest City Enterprises Inc., the Cleveland real estate developer that owns Tower City, would be able to encourage New York & Co. to stay.

The article reports that so-called price wars that serve as a backdrop to grocers' competition for consumer dollars long have been seen in Northeast Ohio as a one-on-one duel between the two largest supermarket chains doing business here. But as the holidays approach, and as Giant Eagle Inc. and Tops Markets LLC tout price cuts and promotions, both insist that they are not so much in competition with each other as they are with discount retailers such as Parma-based Marc's, wholesalers such as Sam's Club and big-box superstores such as Wal-Mart Supercenters.

The article discusses a report on See's Candies Inc. The deliciously rich chocolates and a favorite on the West Coast, where See's is based, make a cameo here each November, with a kiosk at the Beachwood mall. Mr. Bob Giarda, the mall's retail marketing manager, said he has made repeated, unsuccessful pleas to the San Francisco company to open here full-time. No dice, but for now that's good news for a permanent tenant, Godiva Chocolatier. Mr. Giarda reports that the well-known retailer was a bit peeved last year when mall management set up the See's kiosk right outside Godiva's lower-level, centrally located store.

This article presents information on the opening of Crocker Park, the Westlake lifestyle center with an American Eagle Outfitters, Gap, Victoria's Secret and several other shopping mall staples in Ohio. The complex, to be fair, will have its share of unique or high-end retailers, including Coach, H&M, Steve Madden and Urban Outfitters. But the $480 million mixed-use complex from Woodmere's Robert L. Stark Enterprises Inc., figures to siphon significant business from nearby malls such as Great Northern in North Olmsted and Westgate in Fairview Park. Crocker Park marketing director Darryl Whitehead did not return three telephone calls seeking comment.

This article presents information on Carvel Corp. Earlier this year an Atlanta company that bills itself as the country's first ice cream franchise, opened its first regional store in Brunswick to test the waters and fish for franchisees. Not to be frozen out of the market by competing chains such as Arizona-based Cold Stone Creamery, which has four stores in Northeast Ohio and nine on the way, Carvel last week announced agreements with four franchisees for five stores, including a proposed downtown spot at Cleveland's Tower City Center shopping mall. Carvel, with more than 475 locations nationwide, also has local stores planned for Mentor, Parma, Stow and Valley View. Carvel also has carved a niche in the ice cream cake business, popularizing the chocolate" crunchies" filling and selling the cakes in more than 7,500 supermarkets.

Martin Franchising Inc., the Cincinnati-based franchiser of more than 600 Martinizing Dry Cleaning shops worldwide, has targeted Greater Cleveland as one of the markets it will hit in its first hunt for multiunit franchisees. Martin Franchising is looking to add 15 stores in the next four years to a market where the 55-year-old company already has nine. The area's latest Martinizing shop opened in April 2004 in Strongsville. Jerry Laesser, Martin Franchising's vice president of marketing and franchise development, said the Strongsville owners are among several existing area franchisees who will be encouraged to consider entering multiunit agreements, though the real goal is to recruit outsiders interested in taking a stab at the dry cleaning business.

As the government ponders the merger of Twinsburg's Cole National Corp. with Italian optical retailer Luxottica Group SpA, what remains to be seen is whether two dueling brands can survive the process. In the roughly $16.5 billion United States retail eyewear market, Luxottica's LensCrafters and Cole's Pearle Vision are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Analysts who have followed the takeover since its early stages said it will be vital for Luxottica to differentiate between the two retail outlets to keep both alive and thriving. New York retail consultant Howard Davidowitz said it will be important for Luxottica to keep both the LensCrafters and Pearle brand names.

Nascar drivers Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace are pitching in to help Akron's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. promote its more than 500 Truckwise Tire Centers. In radio spots that are being broadcast on the Truckin' Bozo Radio Network's eight affiliate stations and in print ads that will begin appearing in trade journals this month, the racing stars tout the centers as "the trucker's pit stop." Akron's Hitchcock Fleming & Associates, Goodyear's longtime retail ad shop, helped to produce and direct the push.

Spencer Gifts Inc., the New Jersey-based retailer known for its gaggle of gag gifts and other novelty items, this week will open a store at the Avenue at Tower City Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

West Virginia bedding retailer Innovative Mattress Solutions Inc. that is looking to expand in Ohio and other Midwestern states has acquired showrooms, a trademark and other assets from Akron, Ohio-based bankrupt Westco Group Inc. Westco, which filed for Chapter 11 last spring, had closed its Mattress Warehouse showrooms in Ohio and Kentucky as it awaited reorganization. Innovative Mattress Solutions Inc. began its takeover of the shuttered shops last week, reopening the North Olmsted location. Company's president Kimberly Knopf said the deal includes rights to Westco's trademarked Mattress Warehouse name.

The Pepper Pike, Ohio-based Landerwood Plaza shopping center has signed two new tenants. It has added an upscale accessory shop and soon will welcome sandwich chain Subway. Owners of a Cleveland Heights-based bakery also are negotiating a lease. Landerwood Plaza is the elder statesman of Cleveland's eastern shopping options. Rather than let go of the center and its highly entrepreneurial tenant roster, Landerwood's developers are ready to compete in the market with other developers.

A furniture retailer in suburban Youngstown, Ohio will use the Akron, Ohio market for growth while its management team scouts additional Midwest and East Coast locations. England Custom Furniture Direct debuted last week in Boardman, Ohio and by February, 2004 plans to open three more Ohio stores, including one in Fairlawn, Ohio. Company president Larry Hendricks said the stores will emphasize customer service and quick turnaround time on special orders possibility of opening an independent England retailer.

A Hudson, Ohio-based online retailer is using the holiday season to market its products in person for the first time. Safety Think Inc. opened a store November 15 in downtown Hudson and will sell there until January 10. Safety Think president Gary Maher said the Internet company, which launched in 2001, has tripled its revenue in its two years and is approaching $250,000 in revenue this year. Safety Think's most popular items include fire-escape ladders, fire extinguishers and a line of child safety products.

When Bill Koeblitz entered the small retail world of specialty transportation six years ago, he saw an opportunity to make a quick impact in a relatively underdeveloped market. MobilityWorks, is an emerging national retailer of wheelchair-adaptive vans. The company primarily sells and repairs new and used specialty vehicles. Koeblitz is looking to expand the company's presence in Chicago and Detroit. New Hampshire-based Ride Away Handicap Equipment Corp. is the largest provider of used wheelchair-accessible vehicles to the company in the Northeast.

California-based health foods retailer Robeks Corp. is bringing its high-energy juices and power drinks to the Great Lakes Region as of September 2003. The privately owned company, which started in 1996 with a Los Angeles juice shop, operates 32 stores in California and another that opened this year in Columbus, Ohio. Dan Stanowick, a Cleveland public relations veteran, will oversee the company's next wave of franchises planned for Ohio, including an Akron location scheduled to open by November 01, 2003. Robeks' menu consists of smoothies, juices, shakes and yogurts designed to boost energy and substitute for fattier, less-healthy treats. The stores also serve low-fat, high-protein foods, such as sandwiches and muffins.