Painesville

Mr. Carlisle, and his wife, Toni, run a small store. Decades ago, Mr. Carlisle's family ran 14 stores -- department stores. Today, what had been the home store, is vacant along Main Street, :x years after the family sold the chain. One of Mr. Carlisle's major concerns is the educational level of the workforce here. Roughly three-quarters have gone only as far as high school. Sixty percent are classified as unskilled, a legacy he says, of the good times, when unskilled laborers could land good-paying factory jobs. With the factories closed, the population declining, and the tax base eroding, it's hard to cover the costs needed to train and educate. "We need to reinvent ourselves," said Mrs. Carlisle. "We need a vision of our place in the new economy." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It was Ren's desire to have a "mega" store chain that destroyed Carlisles' and nothing else. The store had a good/loyal following of customers but the expansion plans of the '80's are what caused its downfall. Grandfather and father Carlisle must be turning in their graves at that mismanagement by sonny boy!