“Our mother is an unbelievable woman,” Milano Markho exclaimed, a sentiment shared by his brothers, Mario, Morgan, and his twin Marino, about his mother Marian. “We have so much love, respect and admiration for our mother. When our father died two years ago, she stepped up without any hesitation to run our family business, Marino’s Beverage Depot, 5829 Monroe St. Most people said no way would she be able to do that,” he reflected. “While she has always worked alongside our dad, now she has assumed the responsibility for everything. She is the reason for the growth we are experiencing,” he added. “She is the brains behind this operation. She continues to be a great mother to us, and she has become like a second mother to many of our friends,” he noted.
“I knew I had to stay strong for my sons, because I want them to be strong too,” Marian Markho added. “When my husband got sick, each of my sons helped.” Mario left school for a year to help, Marino came home from Ohio State every weekend to work and Morgan works in the store whenever possible. Milano took time off from pursuing his college degree to work full time in the store where he now serves as manager.
“They are the best kids any mother could have. Family is most important to me and to all of us,” she said. “After Eli passed two years ago, we received several good offers for our store. People just didn’t think I could run this business, even though I have worked here for years. But, this is our family business and I want to keep it for my sons,” she offered.
No stranger to the business, Marian Markho began working at her husband’s diner in Maumee when she was first married, after having immigrated to America in 1997. She quickly learned to juggle work, a husband, babies, and running a household. “Not only was she a young working wife and mother, but also she had left her family and a familiar way of life to come to a new country where she had to learn a new language and new customs. Not ever did we hear her complain,” her son pointed out.
In 2004, the Markhos opened Marino’s Beverage Depot. We have grown to be one of the two top liquor stores in the state,”Milano Markho said.
The Beverage Depot is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. There are 12 people who have been on staff for years, all of whom are very knowledgeable and friendly. “We think of them as part of our family,” Marian Markho said. “We all work well and have fun together. And our customers are also friendly and are almost like family,” she noted.
Marian Markho’s sons credit the growing business and those long-standing relationships to their knowledgeable staff, and the outstanding culture developed by their parents and continued by their mother.