Michael I. Monus - Phar-Mor

Phar-Mor

With startup money provided by Giant Eagle, Inc., the supermarket company in which Shapira's family members were large shareholders, the Phar-Mor discount drug chain became enormously successful. In 1988, the chain featured 100 stores, and Monus was described in the media as one of the nation's leading entrepreneurs. In an effort to revitalize his hometown's deteriorating retail district, Monus located the company's national headquarters in a remodeled former department store in downtown Youngstown. A notoriously tough negotiator, he was able to keep retail prices low; and by 1991, there were 200 Phar-Mor outlets across the country. Sam Walton once called Monus the only retailer that he feared, since he couldn't understand how Phar-Mor grew so rapidly in a short time. In addition, Monus and another Youngstown businessman, John Antonucci, were the original majority owners of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies; they'd even secured the financing for what would become Coors Field.

Monus was also a major benefactor to Youngstown State University, serving as chairman of the board of trustees. It emerged that Ray Issac, the quarterback on the Penguins' 1991 national championship team, had received substantial benefits from Monus over his college career, including $10,000 in cash and the use of several cars. The NCAA made an inquiry after being tipped off to Monus' actions, but dropped it after a cursory internal investigation by Youngstown State. The true scope of the violations was only revealed in 1998, when Isaac admitted tampering with a juror in Monus' fraud trial. Youngstown State admitted to a lack of institutional control and docked itself some scholarships, but was allowed to keep its 1991 title since the statute of limitations had run out.

Amid this success, however, Monus began to show signs of becoming overextended. Phar-Mor stores expanded into new lines, including sportswear. Meanwhile, Monus' decision to sponsor the World Basketball League placed severe financial pressure on the corporation. It was speculated that Mickey Monus' father Nathan was somehow able to escape an indictment despite seemingly significant involvement in the massive fraud.