Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
May 16, 2007 Wednesday
Final Edition; All Editions
Arslanian brothers intend to rebuild 48 years behind determination
by Gabriel Baird, Plain Dealer Reporter
The Arslanian brothers built a carpet-cleaning business over 48
years. On Monday, it went up in smoke in a few hours.
Cleveland firefighters were alerted that the family’s East Side
building was on fire at 8:30 p.m. It took hours to get the blaze
under control. By then it was too late.
Firefighter Larry Gray, the department spokesman, said Tuesday that
it may take days for investigators to determine the cause of the
fire.
However, the Arslanian Brothers Carpet & Rug Cleaning site has
already been turned over to the three brothers who started it in 1959
– Ted, Henry and Armen Arslanian. Several family members and
employees returned to the building Tuesday.
Fire debris cluttered the sidewalk at 10009 Miles Avenue. Blank
invoices, advertising "5 generations of Armenian Experts," littered
the gutter. Up above, the second-story windows had shattered. In
back, several rolled carpets were stacked against a wall. Some were
still soaked. Others were charred at the end, like enormous,
unfinished cigars.
Ted Arslanian walked through the debris inside, being careful not to
step on nails sticking out of boards. He moved past the charred
remains of the massive machine that had soaked, washed, rinsed and
wrung out the carpets, the large rug drier and all the company’s
records. Everything was destroyed.
Still, he and his family members are determined to rebuild.
"I have too many family members – 11 in all – in this business," he
said.
Friends and fellow business owners have offered use of their
buildings.
"We’ve already got our eye on another machine," he said. A company in
Michigan has one for sale.
This could help get the on-site cleaning operation back to work. The
other side of the business, in-home cleaning, is still running. Eight
of the company’s vans were not parked inside the building during the
fire.
However, they do not know what clients were scheduled for cleanings
or even whose rugs they had at the time of the fire. The blaze
destroyed their paper files and their computer records and even
melted the electronic records stored in a fireproof safe, said Don
Arslanian, a son of one of the founders who is looking to take over
the business with two of his cousins.
He said the family is devastated over the loss of customers’
rugs. Many of them are family heirlooms belonging to customers the
company has serviced for decades.
The family had the phone line in the business transferred to a home
line Tuesday, but so many calls came in they couldn’t keep up.
"There are customers calling up crying," Don Arslanian said.
He was not sure how many rugs were in the warehouse at the time. They
usually come in one week and are returned the next. It remains
unclear if insurance will replace the rugs.
Customers can call 216-271-6888 or e-mail: [email protected].
Plain Dealer researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this
article.