Family businesses prepare for the future, retirement

For many businesses located along Baltimore’s Westside business district, the time of being handed down from generation to generation is nearing an end. Some of the owners look forward to retirement — others hope to have one.

When Alvin Seubott, 66, took over C.M. Seubott Memorials in 1976 from his father, he worked in the back room of his office on the 2000 block of Frederick Avenue sandblasting grave markers. Today, however, not only has he expanded his office and made a local name for the company, but he just had his 40th wedding anniversary two weeks ago.

And for Seubott, despite his family having no desire to carry on the business, retirement is a day he already looks forward to.

“I have children but none interested in the business,” said Seubott, whose family business has existed for 95 years. “I’d like to retire if something would come forth.”

The latest data from the U.S. Small Business Administration indicates that there are 24.2 million family businesses in the United States, accounting for 89 percent of business tax returns, while 82 million people — 62 percent of the work force — are employed by family enterprises.

Just a block south on Payson Street and a few yards down West Pratt Street, it’s a one-man show.

Strohmer’s Hardware has been a staple of the community for 115 years. Taking the business over from his father, John Strohmer, in 1990, Craig Strohmer looks to just make it to the finish line with his business. By himself, Strohmer sells everything from paint to garden products. Holding out hope that the neighborhood will start to come back, he is genuinely optimistic that business might pick up — and if it doesn’t, he will be happy to walk away, as long as he gets something.

“I’d like to see it last long enough I could retire,” Strohmer said.

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com