Calexico / California / United States
Garlans is a independently owned retail department store. We operate a 16, 000 square foot retail store in downtown Calexico, California. We offer brand name contemporary and traditional apparel for the entire family. We are known for carrying the most desirable brand name fashions and have built a solid reputation for serving distinguished families on both sides of the Mexican-American border. The original owners, Arje Fogel Distributors, recruited and hired Charles Leo Gronich to manage the store. During the 60s & 70s, Garlans was able to establish itself as a good budget apparel store with good customer service. Then in 1973 the Fogels were looking to get out of retail and offered to sell the business to Mr. Gronich. Being the smart businessman that he was, Leo, as he was best known by friends and family, accepted the offer. So in August of 1973 Leo Gronich and his wife Clara bought out Arje Fogel Distributors and became the new owners of the Las Tres BBB store. A few years later, Mr. Gronich and his staff realized there was a growing market in the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys for moderate to better quality apparel with brand names. Recognizing the opportunity to serve this emerging market, plans to improve and rejuvenate the companies overall image were soon underway. The first major change came in April 1979, when Leo Gronich decided to change the name of the store to Garlans, Inc Then in early 1982, Garlans undertook a $350, 000 remodeling and expansion project to improve the appearance and image of the store. Finally on May 30th 1982, Garlans held a grand re-opening sale upon completion of construction and presented a great new assortment of brand name fashions and a fresh new look. Since then Garlans has been able to establish itself as one of the best quality retail apparel stores in the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys. Charles Leo Gronich was born August 27th, 1927 in Los Angeles, California. His first passion was playing the drums in Jazz and Big Band music orchestras. In 1945 during World War II, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. As the war soon came to an end so did his military service. After a brief attempt to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional musician, he realized that his ambitions exceed his musical talent. So he hocked his drum set and moved to El Paso, Texas to manage a motel that belonged to older brother Gabriel. After leaving the hotel management business he began his retail career with the Aronson Brothers department store chain. Within a short time Leo proved his talent and soon was promoted to manage the flagship store in downtown El Paso. There in El Paso he learned the importance of Customer Service and Good Merchandising. In 1960, Arje Fogel Distributors was opening a brand new store called Las Tres BBB in downtown Calexico, California and they recruited Leo to be the store manager. The rest is history.
