Yarid's Shoes & Accessories still going strong after 100

Jul 12, 2023

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Katherine Juker and Emilie Yarid Couch, sisters who own Yarid’s Shoes & Accessories, are celebrating the family-owned business started by their grandparents over a century ago.

“Having a third-generation business is rare these days,” Couch said. “My sister and I actually own the business now. My grandparents, Sam and Dora Yarid, started it in Lewisburg in 1918. Then my father and uncle took it over from them, and then my sister I took over after my father and uncle retired.”

Today, Yarid’s has three locations in West Virginia, with stores in Lewisburg, Charleston and at The Greenbrier resort. There are also locations in Roanoke, Virginia, and in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Juker supervises the Lewisburg, Roanoke and Greenbrier resort locations. Couch takes care of the stores in Charleston and in Colorado.

The sisters say it all began when her grandparents emigrated from Lebanon.

“In the early 1900s, our grandfather, Samuel, left Lebanon and set off to America in pursuit of prosperity,” Couch said. “His dedication and charm quickly made him a successful businessman in Richmond. He sold oriental rugs with his brother. My grandmother lived in New Jersey and she was working in a clothing store with her sister. They met at a wedding in Boston.”

She said her grandparents moved to West Virginia after they married and her grandfather loved Greenbrier County.

“They would sell the oriental rugs to people at The Greenbrier resort,” she said. “They decided to open the first Yarid’s in 1918. It was a sundry shop, so they sold you know, vacuum cleaners, clothing and a lot of different items. They weren’t like a general store.”

By that time, her grandfather had gained a reputation as a visionary entrepreneur while her business-savvy grandmother was the backbone of the growing business.

“The family business and family continued to thrive,” Couch said.

In the 1960s, Samuel’s sons, Eddie and Munir, expanded the family’s influence. They merged the women’s boutique with the men’s shop to create the popular Yarid’s department store.

“Our family name was now synonymous with fine apparel,” Couch said.

Fast forward another generation and the store evolved with her dad and uncle.

“It evolved more into ladies clothing, which my dad helped with, along with ladies shoes. And then my uncle did men’s clothing. Sometime in the 1970s they merged all the three locations and they opened up the big department store,” Couch said. “Then, in the late ’70s or early ’80s, they opened up the store at The Greenbrier.”

Couch said she and her sister spent their childhoods playing among the clothing racks and pretending to be window mannequins.

“We decided that our infatuation with footwear and handbags was the key to the next generation of our family’s success,” she said.

Juker said she came back to West Virginia in 1988 to help her father and uncle run the business.

Couch came in when the company had the opportunity to take over the lease of Schwabe-May at the Charleston Town Center mall in the 1990s. The store relocated to its current building on Bridge Road in early 2000s.

“We have transformed Yarid’s from an extensive department store to a specialized, luxurious boutique chain that is now adored across the nation,” Couch said.

Aaron Truitt, of Hurricane, was at the Bridge Road location last week shopping for a gift for his wife.

“I come here often to get my wife different things. They have a good selection of products that you can’t find on Walmart or Target or something like that,” he said. “They’re always very friendly. They’re very knowledgeable. They go out of their way to help you.”

Sara Patterson, of Charleston, says she has been shopping at Yarid’s since she was a young child.

“My dad grew up in Lewisburg, so we would go to the original store,” she said.

Patterson said Yarid’s has a wide variety of items for various tastes in fashion.

“They have everything from shoes, purses and clothes to jewelry and more,” she said. “The quality of their stuff is just better than you will find at most any other retailer. You can find the really expensive things that you know if you’re willing to splurge will last forever, like a little black dress, but they also have lower-priced things too.”

Having items customers like and enjoy is very important to Yarid’s, according to Couch.

“I think the most important thing about small business is that we know our customers. We know what they like. They’re our friends and we take care of them,” she said.

Jeanette Bowen, of Charleston, says she been shopping at Yarid’s for the past 40 years.

“I’m what you would call a very loyal customer,” she said. “Yarid’s is my main go-to shopping experience in town. They have stuff you can’t find anywhere else. They have the best brands, the best selection and if they don’t have it, they’ll get it. They have the best shoes too, and I like nice shoes.”

Bowen says the customer service at Yarid’s is the best because they have had many of the same employees for years.

“These girls have all been here for years. I have known most of them over 20 years, at least,” she said. “They all know you by your first name. You don’t find that kind of customer service much any more.”

Margie Gumowski has worked for Yarid’s for 30 years.

“I started with Emilie, I think the first year that she started in the mall,” she said. “When my daughter was young, I could go get her during the day if I had to and she came to work with me on days there wasn’t school. She feels as much as part of this family as we all do.”

Valerie Frontz has been working at the Bridge Road location since it opened.

“I’ve been here 17 years,” she said. “I love working here with a lot of great women. They are not only great co-workers they help a lot of people in the community.”

Julia Roberts is one of the newer employees at Yarid’s in Charleston.

“I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of women to work with,” Roberts said. “Emilie is wonderful. I mean, she hustles as hard as we do. She’s right beside us doing it too. My first couple days here, I was just so impressed because she showed me everything.”

Couch said Yarid’s also does a lot with philanthropy.

“We support ‘Girls Night Out.’ We do things with United Way. We do things for children’s theater. You know, we try to be very much a part of the community,” she said.

Juker and Couch both said they are hoping their daughters will come in to make it a fourth generation family business.

“I’m sure they will put their spin on it and have a successful approach to Yarid’s future,” Juker said. “I’m hoping to see where another generation can take the business in the next 100 years.”

For more information about Yarid’s, visit www.yarids.com.

Fred Pace is the regional business reporter for HD Media. Send your business news and photos to [email protected]. You can also call 304-526-2729. Follow him at Facebook.com/FredPaceHD and via Twitter @FredPaceHD.