Elma man creating Made in America Store

ELMA, N.Y. (WIVB) - Foreign competition nearly put him out of action, but he's not ready to give up. Now an enterprising Elma man is back in business with products made only in America.

Mark Andol said, "You know, the "Made in America" logo on it and then on the backside "Save Our Country First."

The logos on these tee shirts just about say it all. Years ago, Mark Andol started thinking about opening up a store where everything was made in the U.S.

"I've kind of always been, you know, to the point that we should support our country first," said Andol.

His patriotism is literally on display here at the "Made in America Store" in Elma. U.S. grown ketchup, canned peaches and pears, games and posters. The store is down the street from Andol's other company: General Welding. In the past year, he's had to lay off nearly half his work force. That was the driving force to open up his second business.

Andol said, "They're good workers. They can't provide for their family and where do they go? I mean, right now the country's in such bad shape most of the manufacturing is overseas and that's a fact."

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He plans to employ some of those workers at his new store, a store he's making sure is filled with products completely made in the U.S. Everything from the packaging to the printing must be made in the U.S and if it's not, like these checkers, the merchandise is sent back to the company.

"First, when we find a vendor, we ask for a letter of guarantee and we get it on their letter head of their product that it is 100 percent made in America, which is very hard to do," said Andol.

Andol says a company can claim its merchandise is made in the U.S. if only half of it was. That's not good enough for him and he's got supporters.

Andol says he's always looking for new vendors who'd like to sell their merchandise in his store. The "Made in America Store" is scheduled to open April 3rd at 900 Maple Road in Elma. Andol is working on creating a website, but in the meantime, you can call 716-652-4USA for more information.