Our Story

Brothers, Bob & John Soma grew up in Lithuania. They were very young when a war with Russia and Germany broke out.  Their parents loaded the family of 5 girls and 4 boys on a wagon and headed for safety.  This journey took almost 10 years.  During that time, they lost their oldest sister. In 1950, the Lutheran Church sponsored the family and brought them to a farm in Marysville, Ohio.  Bob grew up to be a union finish carpenter.  John became a union plumber and pipe fitter.

Throughout their years in the construction industry, they saw a great deal of waste with previously owned store fixtures.  Stores needed to change their look, but had nowhere to dispose of the old fixtures.  There were also people on a tight budget needing fixtures to open their small independent stores, but could not afford new store fixtures.

So with that in mind, the brothers felt the need to start a business where previously owned store fixtures could be purchased.  In the spring of 1987, Ohio Store Fixtures was formed.  Bob & John personally constructed 3 warehouses consisting of 56,000 square feet on 4 acres.  The buildings housed new and pre-owned store fixtures, everything from clothing racks, slatwall, gridwire, showcases, pallet racking, and backroom shelving.  So many things that their motto was: ”If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”

Bob's daughter, Lisa, has been a part of the company from the beginning as the office manager and accountant.  John retired in 2001 at which point, Lisa, purchased John’s stock.

November 30, 2008, Bob passed away.  He will always be missed, but his family dream continues.  Several improvements have been made and recently we moved our operations to the rear building.  We continue to follow the newest trends and customer demands which is why we now focus primarily on new fixtures.  It’s a fun place to visit to get new ideas or find that special fixture to help increase your sales.  We treat everyone as if they are family.  Customer service has and will always be our number one priority.