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Phar-Mor
In the 1980s, Michael “Mickey” Monus presided over a new business venture focusing initially on pharmaceutical and drug distribution. An offshoot of the Tamarkin dynasty, Phar-Mor grew rapidly throughout the eastern United States. The store expanded to handle more than just pharmaceuticals including, notions, paper, and office supplies. In 1988, Phar-Mor opened in the old Strouss building on West Federal St. in downtown Youngstown. This new facility included eating establishments on the first floor and business offices on the upper levels. This remodel aided in the attempted revamping of the downtown area.
Monus also contributed to the local morale by enhancing the local sports world. He purchased the Youngstown “Pride” basketball team (part of the World Basketball League), winner of two world championships in 1989 and 1990. Also in 1990, Phar-Mor began sponsoring the L.P.G.A. (Ladies Professional Golf Association) “Phar-Mor Tournament classic.” The tournament had two stages, one in Florida during the winter at Inverrary and then at Squaw Creek Country Club in the summer. In 1991, Monus and John Antenucci, of Superior Beverages in Youngstown, became majority owners in the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies were an expansion team slated to make its major league debut in the National League in 1993.[1]
However, Phar-Mor and Monus’s success would not last. By August of 1992, Monus had been dismissed from his position as head of the Phar-Mor Corporation. A resulting FBI investigation and trial revealed extensive embezzling reaching a sum of about $499 million dollars. The scandal ultimately was the ruin of Phar-Mor and Monus’s other business ventures, including his withdrawn from the Colorado Rockies and the dissolving of the World Basketball League.[2]
[1] Irving E Ozer., et al. These Are the Names: The History of the Jews of Greater Youngstown, Ohio 1865-1990 (Youngstown, OH: 1994), 248-49; Vindicator, 6 July 1991.
[2] Vindicator, 3 and 4 August 1992 and 23 January 1993.
Vindicator photo of Michael “Mickey” Monus at Phar-Mor LPGA 1991 with others. Acc. No. JA92-172, MVHS Collection.
The Mahoning Valley Historical Society educates and promotes an interest in the history of the Mahoning Valley by collecting, preserving, and developing material representative of the people who have inhabited the region.
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