Cash, Cash, Cash (and a Bit of Medicaid)

Las Vegas is well-known as the country's prime spot for gambling and entertainment. It also has one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates, highest unemployment rates and highest vacancy rates.

But Everything Medical is one family-run business that succeeds in the city's midst and brings calm to the fervor. When you walk in the door, you might be welcomed by three generations of family: grandparents, children and grandchildren, plus the family dog. No customer leaves the store without feeling they have been helped to make their day — or their daily life — better.

Robert Kelemen moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles after California's Northridge earthquake in 1994. A pharmacist by trade, his 10-year-old wholesale supplies business (United Health Supplies) was wiped out in a flood caused by the earthquake. Robert seized the opportunity to move the family out of "Seismic Central" and decided on Las Vegas — a city of unparalleled growth, active senior communities and retirement centers, large hospitals, vacation homes, sprawling suburbs and continuous tourism.

Selling supplies runs deep in the Kelemen family. Robert's mother-in-law Pearl Berman had worked in government purchasing and saw the opportunity to sell to school districts across the country in both health and athletic departments. So Robert rebuilt the wholesale business with young son Jeff, who worked for his dad during high school.

After college graduation, Jeff returned to the family business and recommended that they open a retail operation as a complement to wholesale supplies. And why not? They knew the products thoroughly. They knew who needed them. They knew how to provide personal service. So in 1997, the first Everything Medical retail store opened in a 900-sq.-ft. space in a nondescript strip mall.

The family dynamic remains today, including mom Joanne as the company's CFO and Jeff's wife Elizabeth, a registered nurse, making outside sales calls. The two businesses merged in 2007 to streamline paperwork and licensing, and in 2009, the family opened a second Las Vegas retail location.

Super Service, Selection and Price

Everything Medical is exactly that, everything medical. With over 25,000 SKUs, the stores likely carry almost anything customers need.

"We are staunch believers in offering a good-better-best selection," says Jeff Kelemen, now 39. "We know our consumers want to know what's available, the trade-offs — and if they can't afford it, what they are missing out on."