It marks Johnny Carson’s retivement from a_ record-setting 30-year stint as the host of the Tonight Show. And when Carson retired from the show, so did his sidekick Ed McMahon. But on the local business scene, there is another Ed who is stil! go- ing full steam ahead. May 1992 also marked the 10th year of business for Ed Rothman and his chain of Ed’s Linen stores, one of which is located at 4-801 Marine Dr. in North Vancouver. Rothman was born in Montreal and moved to B.C. 31 years ago. He started his business with one store in Richmond and five employees. Today, Ed’s Linen has five Lower Mainland outlets and employs 65 people. Rothman is now considering expanding his linen empire to Vic- toria and Kelowna, the Van- ceuver’s West End, Abbotsford and Burnaby. Rothman started Ed*s Linen in- 1982, which was not: the best possible time to be starting a new business in B.C. ‘“Bighty per cent of ail businesses that started today will “fail within five years. At the end of that, another 80% that are left will also fail. So by the time you boil it down, 6% of the businesses that started today are still around 10 years from now. “So it makes you wonder. Why ‘Ed’s Linen? Why was that a business? We started right in the height of the recession in 1982,” says Rothman. Before starting Ed’s Linen, Rothman worked in the wholesale business for 22 years selling linen products to department stores. He says he noticed the department stores increasing the prices to the _,point where most people could not afford linen products. _ “So I said to myself: ‘Why can’t there be a store that can make these goods affordable and -give them (customers) everything under one roof?’ Sure enough, I ‘went down to the United . States and saw lots of these places. “I said: ‘My God, it has to .. work up in Canada.’ So I came back here, set up the first store in Richmond that was approximately 4,000 square feet, and that’s where we started this business from,” says Rothman. Ed goes full steam ahead MAY 1992 will stand out as a special time in the interna- tiona! entertainment field and the local business scene. By Surj Rattan News Reporter The business was soon a huge success, and Rothman’s customers continued to ask him to provide more and more regular merchan- dise. “In other words, if they wanted a bed skirt in black and we only had it in red, they would say: ‘Why can’t I have it in black?’ I said: ‘Sure, 1°ll get it for you.’ ”* Rothman says Ed’s Linen soon became a customer-driven com- pany. Ed’s Linen also reduced the price of its products and increased its selection. Rothman decided to open other outlets around the Lower Mainland. **Our customers were not located in Richmond only, they also lived in other places on the Lower Mainland. They ‘kept com- ing to us and saying: ‘How come we have to travel this distance to get to you?’ And I had never real- -ized where my customers were coming from. “ET saw them coming from North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Surrey, from all over. Then I said: “Why don’t we put a store out in these areas?’ *” Rothman opened his ‘second store in Coquitlam; his third loca- tion, a 4,000-square-foot store, was opened in North Vancouver. Two other stores were later ad- ded in Surrey and on West Broadway in Vancouver. Rothman -says he -has_ lost money to cross-border shopping, but his stores are not su‘‘ering from the competition. “We've withstood the cross- border shopping very well because in all instances we will meet the American prices regardless of what the cost is to us. Believe me, we do lose money, there’s no question about that. “But why should our customers have to go south to buy a product they can get here? Why should our customers have to 3it in their .cars and wait for cross-border shoppers and then spend more time filling out forms?”’ Rothman says it is more impor- tant for him to keep a customer than it is to lose money on a sale in the cross-border shopping war. He adds that one of the major reasons stores are going out of business today is because they do not carry what the customer wants. Ed’s, he repeats, is a custom- er-driven b:.siness. ‘“‘Not only do they not carry the right styles for them, but they don’t even carry the right price range so there’s no reason for these stores to exist. ‘1 think people generally hate shopping. It aggravates them when they go into a store and they don’t get the service or they don’t find what they want after spend- ing 25 minutes looking for a park- ing space. “When 1 go into a shopping centre for a pair of black socks, god help them if they don’t have a pair of black socks size 11. I get really upset. 1? say: ‘How could you do this to me? How could - you not carry a pair of black socks size 11?’ “I don’t care what the price is, but I need it. I have a wedding tomorrow and what you’re forcing me to do by not having it is to leave your store, get back into my car, and find another place that may or may not have it. Now I’m upset.’’ Rothman refuses to locate any of his stores in major shopping malls, choosing instead to house them in strip malls. That way, he says, the customer can pull up right in front of the store, pay for the merchandise, and his staff will help carry the items out to the customer’s car. “It’s a pleasure to shop in our stores. The main thing that stands out is our people. They are people that really care,’’ says Rothman. Wednesday, May 27, 1992 - North Shore News — 21 NEWS photos Mike Wakefisid STOCKING SHELVES and tables at Ed’s Linen’s North Vancouver store outlet are Diana Kozak and Charlene Anderson (above). Ed Rothman, the name behind Ed’s Linen (photo left), wants to ex- pand his linen empire. For our 2 year GIC. Call 682-7171 for the branch nearest you. F Citizens Trust MEMBEK CDIC Rates subject to chitge. Cash Counters are a convenient way to get cash fast at these iocations: Chevron Town Pantry © Main & Mountain © Keith Rd. & 3rd Street