Meet Your Merchant: 'Born salesman' returns to owning Sears home store

On a snowy spring day in Carson City, Rick Stoneman is busy selling a refrigerator to a Carson City couple.

The owner of the Sears Hometown Store in north Carson City said he's staying busy - people, after all, need to replace ovens and lawnmowers regardless of the economy.

"I think what we see happening is we have a customer looking for a fridge, and instead of looking for the fridge they want, they buy the fridge that they can afford," Stoneman said. "It's a shame, and a lot of that is economy related."

Stoneman opened Carson City's Sears location in 1993, which he ran until 2003 when he and his wife sold it. In 2006, the new owners moved the business to the Topsy Lane shopping center. But by the spring of 2009, the owners decided to leave the business and Sears started looking for a new owner.

Stoneman said when the opportunity presented itself to get back into the retail business last June, he jumped. By October he had reopened and was running his Sears Hometown Store in the north Carson City location he left it.

Stoneman said unlike the store today, the Topsy Lane location didn't have the "toys" customers were used to, such as TVs, lawnmowers and grills. The store also sell ovens, ranges and tools.

Stoneman's first job was at a Southern California JC Penney selling shoes.

"Then Montgomery Ward came to town and they paid commission," said Stoneman, who stayed with that company for 27 years, eventually becoming a manager. He left in 1993 to open the Sears location in Carson City.

He said he's happy running the store and he's optimistic about the economy improving, even if it's a slow process.

And even though the store features the Sears name, Stoneman said it's his business.

"It's very personal," he said. "I didn't think it would be, but it turned out that way."