More than a year after Discount Salvage opened its doors, owner Jeannie Baker is still surprised at how popular the store is.
More than a year after Discount Salvage opened its doors, owner Jeannie Baker is still surprised at how popular the store is.
“Business is phenomenal. I really had no idea,” she said in a phone interview after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 15. “It far surpassed my expectations.”
Salvage stores are common in the Middlefield area, which was another reason she doubted another could do well, Jeannie said.
Visitors are surprised a salvage store is not owned and run by Amish, but that does not discourage shoppers from arriving from all over Northeast Ohio, she said, adding about half her customers are Amish.
Discount Salvage accepts credit and debit cards, which gives it an edge, since many local salvage stores only take cash, the owner said.
Almost as soon as Jeannie moved to Middlefield from Washington and married area businessman Joe Baker in 2022, he began urging her to open a store next to his appliance shop at the corner of state routes 87 and 528.
“For eight months, he doggedly pursued the idea,” she said, adding she finally gave in, got the business license in April of 2024, moved into the space in July and opened the doors in August.
Jeannie, 49, said she is used to moving things along, having been a general sales manager for an auto dealership in Washington for 20 years and operating an appliance store with her brothers.
That experience has been valuable over the last year.
“I run (Discount Salvage) like those two things in my past. I’m the full owner,” she said.
Joe manages the inventory, which ranges from groceries to Christmas decorations that fill one section of the brightly-lit store.
“I don’t have to find any of the stuff,” she said, as inventory arrives from all over the country. “It just depends on what we need at the time.”
The couple met in Chicago 20 years ago and went their separate ways, Jeannie said.
“We reconnected in about 2020,” she said.
Discount Salvage is a family business, with Joe’s twin children, Brooke and Andrew, 18, helping out.
They are due to graduate from Cardinal High School in June, Jeannie said, adding Brooke is college-bound and Andrew wants to take over running the salvage store.
Business is so good, Jeannie expanded her original 8,000-square-foot space by 1,200 square feet and may add another 1,000 to 2,000 square feet in the next six to eight months, she said.
“We could open other salvage stores. That’s always a possibility,” she said.
Jeannie sells some goods on Facebook Marketplace and while her store does not have a website, yet, it’s a goal for the couple.
“We very much like being part of the community and enjoy all the positive feedback on our store,” she said. “I feel super-welcomed.”
The store is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
