TOLEDO – For 15 years, Toledo’s own Stormin Norman‘s has been able to carve out a niche in retail with one focus: Quality products at low prices.
“We have a big, big name in this area for quality and low prices, and our clientele follows us,” boasted Norman Eisen, 68, the owner of Stormin Norman’s Wholesale Warehouse.
Eisen said he’s confident his clientele follow him because he’s moved four times and they have followed.
“We started off on Woodville Road [in the] Great Eastern Shopping Center, [then] we moved over to Alexis and Lewis, which worked out really well for us,” he said, accounting for where his business operated for the bulk of his life as a seller.
Unfortunately for Eisen, the property he was renting for his flea-market at Alexis and Lewis was sold to new owners when his lease was up last year, and he was forced to move yet again to his current, smaller location at 5517 Telegraph Rd.
“I’m going to a smaller scale, so I don’t have to work as hard, so I can enjoy my life a little more,” said Eisen, of west Toledo.
Large-scale flea-market dealing is what Eisen is known for, but he said he’s moving away from second-hand goods, focusing more on overstock and liquidation materials.
The quick-dealing seller, who asks people to make him an offer, explained his problem succinctly: “I’ve got TOO MUCH stuff.”
A large warehouse off Glendale Ave. holds the remnants of Eisen’s acquisitions – over 20,000 square feet of them.
“Norm had it set up so it’s like a garage sale,” said Ken Belkofer, 75, an auctioneer with 37 years of experience and a friend of Eisen’s.
“I’m not a garbage seller,” Belkofer said with pride as he started elevating the presentation of the goods.
Belkofer began auctioning and selling real estate back in 1988, and lives a semi-retired life.
“I didn’t think it was this bad,” he said as he relayed that he had been coaxed into helping Eisen because of their long-standing friendship.
“I need room for people to think,” Belkofer said of the massive inventory of odds-and-ends next to one another.
“I kept saying ‘no [to helping Eisen],’ and he kept saying, ‘yes, you are,” Belkofer summarized, and eventually Belkofer gave-in, qualifying his help.
“If it was June, I’d wanna’ go fishin,” he quipped, making it clear that the winter season played heavily into why he was lending his help.
Just for the record, Belkofer said he and his wife were signed up for another cruise, referring to their plans for warmer weather.
Sitting amongst the over-stocked inventory, the two aged men playfully chided one another. Eisen said Belkofer was addicted to auctioneering, and Belkofer said Eisen was getting too old for the business. But the words were said in good fun between old friends, with a hint of truth behind both of their claims.
“I want to empty this out as best I can and move on.” Eisen admitted. “I’m basically retiring.”
Eisen mentioned keeping the smaller location on Telegraph, but comparatively to how he’s run the business for the past decade, he’s downsizing quite a bit.
The two friends were eager to offload the inventory, and tried to do so many times to this Toledo Free Press reporter.
“How you’d do it is you could start to set it up outside,” Belkofer advised.
Just start having sidewalk sales,” Belkofer said in an effort to free up his time and be done with the project if the whole warehouse were to be bought in bulk.
Bulk buyers are welcome to inquire about buying the warehouse stock before the official auction, which Eisen and Belkofer hope to have ready by sometime in April.
