TOLEDO AREA GREETS DISCOUNT RETAILER

Gabe’s opens Monroe Street store

Customers wait outside Gabriel Brothers, stretch-ing almost to Target, for the grand opening of the company’s first store in the Toledo area on Thursday. The discount retailer on Monroe Street in Sylvania Township offers a variety of products, from clothing to greeting cards and more.

The nearby presence of college students who like discounted clothing factored into Gabriel Brothers, Inc., opening its first store in metro Toledo in Sylvania Township, its chief executive officer said Thursday.

“We love to have the students who are frugal shoppers and love brands. Stores next to a university or college town do very, very well,” CEO Ken Seipel said as shoppers streamed into Gabe’s at 5223 Monroe St. for the official grand opening. The store opened its doors to the public Wednesday.

Gabe’s sells a variety of products for up to 70 percent off department or specialty store prices, from clothing to greeting cards to shoes.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here for more photos from the grand opening

Privately held, West Virginia-based Gabriel Brothers has 38 stores, including 15 in Ohio. The 50,000-square-foot Monroe Street location, at the former Media Play site, is its first in the Toledo area.

The company studied traffic and decided the Monroe Street retail corridor gave it the best chance for success. Gabe’s weighed several communities in the region, and the Monroe Street location topped the list because of location, available building, and Toledo being “a friendly city,” Mr. Seipel said.

“This marks our first store that we opened up in a new market for quite some time,” he said. “It is the beginning of our expansion.”

He said Gabe’s will consider opening another store in the area.

The store has 150 employees and is accepting applications.

Store hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-206-0356, or ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.