The Rockwell’s building gets new life with an exciting new business coming to Wellsville
By Andrew Harris,
James and Ryan have been friends forever. They went to Wellsville High School together and have been friends since graduating in 2008. Almost two decades after graduation, they both decided to make Wellsville their home to settle down and raise a family. Ryan is a Wellsville Police officer, James works for National Fuel Gas and has a small business. They coach Little League together and enjoy the life of small town America with young growing families.
As friends will do, they’ve been tossing around big ideas and hopes for the future. The conversations evolved from plans around the campfire to some serious ideas about how invest in their families, the community, and a vision.
The first step was clear: Find a space to launch the dream.
They shopped around for commercial spaces to rejoivinate and turn into a viable family business, one that their growing families can be involved with, perhaps someday inherit. After searching and scouring the available inventory of spaces, they started to get frustrated with both the quality of spaces and the price tag.
“We just decided to start cold calling building owners and we started with the Rockwell’s Building on Main Street. While initially disinterested, the owner finally called back and gave us the green light,” explained James.
The building has been a core part of downtown Wellsville since the 1950’s, and recently has been part of a legal tussle with the Village of Wellsville over rights to the municipal parking behind the building. Ryan wanted to make it very clear that they only purchased the building, not the parking lot in dispute. While it took some paperwork, the parking lot is now a separate property, and is still involved in a legal dispute with the village.
“If we could have bought the parking lot we would have, and restored it as a community parking space. The asking price was just not within our means,” Ryan lamented.
That notion speaks volumes to what this venture between two pals, now two young families, is all about: Investing in their community.
With the building now in hand, the pair have been working overtime to clear out tons of accumulated rubbish from previous owners. Over fifty trips to the landfill later, they are ready to start bringing this former shopping center back to life.
The building has been home to some memorable businesses and community services.
Rockwell’s department store was a thriving, two story retailer who many remember well. My memories are of buying clothing, toys, and my mothers sewing patterns. The sweetest lady, Jane Walsh, was always on hand with a penny for the gumball machine. It closed in the 1980’s and at some point, soon after became the late Ralph Eastlack’s “Youth for Christ,” a hangout for kids equipped with an indoor skateboard park. Other businesses like Alan Hills Carpet have used the space and the pink décor from an early incarnation of Hiedi Noel’s Dance Studio remain.
Today the Main Street storefronts are occupied by what James and Ryan refer to as “dream tenants,” in WillCare and the Book Cellars. They are thrilled to have them as customers and the feeling is mutual according to Willcare’s Josie Cross:
“James and Ryan have been phenomenal to work with so far! We really appreciate their effort and enthusiasm and look forward working with them in the future.”
Book Cellars, a unique specialty wine and bookstore, have also been pleasantly surprised by the goodwill and hard work of the new landlords:
“We absolutely love our new landlords!! They have been extremely helpful with everything we have needed and they share our vision of promoting downtown Wellsville by collaboration. We look forward to working with them more on both of our future ventures and we can’t wait to see how they will continue to update Rockwell’s and bring fresh ideas into the community!”
Plenty of space remains on the second floor and the new owners are open to any ideas that will fill the spaces. James makes a point to say that the goal is to work with prospective tenants to reach a mutual agreement.
“The price of commercial real estate spaces can be pretty outrageous lately, and we’d like to be able to offer both affordability and great service to our tenants,” explained James.
Currently they are preparing three unique spaces for leasing opportunities:
Big room 3560 sq/ft Ceilings 11.9 Rent $2000/month
Dance floor 2005 sq/ft Ceilings 11.9 Rent $1000/month
Office Space 739 sq/ft Ceiling 9.5 (drop ceiling) estimate Rent $600/month
Cain and Dibble are ready to work with new tenants to customize spaces and lease agreements, email today Cdprofessionalsllc@gmail.com
New business coming to Main Street
The duo is not without their own plans which should spark some excitement in the community.
“We are reserving some space on the backside of the building for our little dream, a virtual golf club. Virtual golf is a growing pastime, especially in this part of the country, and the technology has really developed in the last decade,” Ryan announced, with a glimmer in his eye.
The venue would have multiple digital portals to a world where players can experience famous golf courses virtually, with friends in house or on the other side of the world. Tournaments, special events, and just regular Saturday morning foursomes will be welcome. The club will be complete with a clubhouse and will be accessible to members anytime with passcode system.
James and Ryan have spent some time researching and have decided to go “state of the art,” with the acclaimed “Trackman” system made in Rochester NY. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of that project and check out the Trackman system online.
What the duo want most of all is to bring the building back to the time when it served the communities needs and sustained itself. “We aren’t in this to get rich, we want create something of value for other businesses and to pass along to our kids,” James explained more than once.
Two Wellsville High School grads, now with families and careers, see all kinds of upside when investing in Main Street Wellsville. That bullish outlook, from a couple of guys in their 30’s, is inspiring, and perhaps telling of a new economy taking shape in Allegany County.
