New retailer opens job fair, interviews for 150 employees

10/7/2013
BY TYREL LINKHORN
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
  • Mark-Blazer-an-assistant-manager-at-G

    Mark Blazer, an assistant manager at Gabe's of Lexington, Ky., interviews Ron Morton of Curtice, Ohio, during a job fair Monday held by Gabriel Brothers Inc. at the Ramada Toledo Hotel.

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  • Editor's note: This version of the article corrects that the starting pay for jobs is $7.85 per hour.

    Mark Blazer, an assistant manager at Gabe's of Lexington, Ky., interviews Ron Morton of Curtice, Ohio, during a job fair Monday held by Gabriel Brothers Inc. at the Ramada Toledo Hotel.
    Mark Blazer, an assistant manager at Gabe's of Lexington, Ky., interviews Ron Morton of Curtice, Ohio, during a job fair Monday held by Gabriel Brothers Inc. at the Ramada Toledo Hotel.

    Discount clothing retailer Gabriel Brothers Inc. started hiring for its soon-to-launch Toledo store Monday with a job fair and open interviews.

    District Manager Bill Tichenor said the Morgantown, W.Va., company is looking to hire about 150 people, including supervisory roles, cashiers, and customer-service representatives.

    Pay for the jobs starts at $7.85 per hour, he said.

    The company said hiring got off to a fast start on Monday.

    “It’s been successful so far. We've already hired 60 people this morning,” Mr. Tichenor said. “We've had 75 to 100 people walk through.”

    Officials said about 40 people were waiting when the job fair opened Monday morning. A little before 1 p.m., about a dozen people were either interviewing or filling out applications.

    Minniesha Harper was one of them. She said she heard about the jobs and was hopeful she could get hired.

    “I've been searching for employment for the longest time,” she said.

    The new Gabe’s store is set to open Nov. 14 in a former Media Play store on Monroe Street in Sylvania Township.

    Toledo resident Holly Matthews fills out paperwork during a job fair held on Monday by Gabriel Brothers Inc. at the Ramada Toledo Hotel. Gabe's will be opening a new store in Sylvania Township.
    Toledo resident Holly Matthews fills out paperwork during a job fair held on Monday by Gabriel Brothers Inc. at the Ramada Toledo Hotel. Gabe's will be opening a new store in Sylvania Township.

    Gabe's has 14 stores in Ohio, including in suburban Cleveland, Dayton, and Mansfield. The company has 37 stores overall across six states, selling name-brand clothing at discounts of up to 70 percent from department stores.

    The new store will be the company’s first in the Toledo area.

    Mr. Tichenor said that’s part of the reason the company opted for the hiring fair, which continues from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Ramada Inn at 3536 Secor Rd.

    “It's accomplishing two things,” he said. “We need to fill 150 positions, plus we wanted to talk about our brand a little bit. Gabriel Brothers is new to Toledo.”

    Toledoan Alma Moreland said she’d worked as a cashier for 20 years and wanted to see if she could pick up a little work.

    “My kids are grown,” she said. “I can’t be empty nesting, sitting around watching TV all day long.”

    She said she was impressed with the way the job fair was run and that it was good to see a new business coming to the city.

    “Anything bringing jobs to Toledo is a good thing,” she said.