ASHLAND —
Don Korros, the owner and co-founder of Ashland’s Don’s Men’s Shop, passed away Wednesday at his home in Rochester, Minn.
News of his passing came as a blow to longtime friends and associates, who acknowledge Korros was dealing with health problems during their last meetings with him. Speaking from Dulles Airport, former Ashland mayor and city schools superintendent Steve Gilmore said he was saddened with news of Korros’ passing.
“I have known him my whole life. He was a wonderful person, as were his wife and their kids. I knew them all and they were all excellent citizens of Ashland,” Gilmore said, adding Korros measured him for the first good suit he ever bought.
“I wore that suit for 20 years,” he said, adding he last saw Korros in person during an old-timers event at the Ashland Elks Lodge. “He was in a wheelchair but he was upbeat and vibrant just like when he was at the store.
“He was just one of those figures in Ashland history,” Gilmore concluded before adding Korros not only sold quality merchandise, but provided a level of hometown service which made him memorable.
Since 1956, Don’s Mens Shop has been located at the corner of Winchester Avenue and 15th Street. When the business was first moved there from down the block, the shop took up only a single room of the large building, and over the next two decades grew to take over an additional two store rooms.
“When we opened it up it was a typical Ivy League shop,” Korros during his last interview with the Ashland Daily Independent.
Don and Betty Korros, who met at the University of Cincinnati in the mid-’40s and married in 1950, raised four sons, Mark, Bob, David and Bryan.
Korros said he largely grew up at the store in Ashland. He was 20 when it opened, and even though his dad was a tailor in Cincinnati and he grew up in the clothing business, he maintained the store was something new.
“I had to learn. I had to learn by the seat of his pants,” he said.
Korros was 83 years old.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
Local News
Ashland mourns loss of Korros
Co-founder of Don’s Men’s Shop died at home in Minn.
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