Blog 6: Transitions Opens Opportunity
By Andy Whitby, The Weldon Advocate
This will be another post that will have a personal vibe to it, but it too is all for the good of Weldon.
To recap the last blog post, I spent the fall months working on facade improvement on two of my building, gaining some Social Media training that has lead to the development of the “Find Great Treasures’ marketing campaign, worked on serval projects to begin implementing that program and had a lot of fun as Santa Andy.
I had planned to spend the winter months working on two of my storefronts that are not rentable because they need work. I get inquiries almost weekly from people seeking a place to open a business. And while Weldon has several vacant buildings, I can assure you that they are vacant because they need a lot of work done to them to make them rentable. So it had been my plan to get my two storefronts rentable to provide the opportunity for a couple more businesses to locate in Weldon.
One of these storefronts needs most of the 130-year-old wooden floor replaced. It has rotted out in several places and is not safe to occupy. This storefront is about 2000 sq ft and will be a big job physically and financially.
The other storefront will be in the building that was a former gas station on the corner of 2nd Street and Washington Avenue. The former gas station had an office area and 2 garage bays. The office area had been converted to a carryout restaurant several years ago. One of the garage bays has been renovated to be a dining room or can be used as a small retail shop. The other garage bay is still unfinished. It has been my plan to fix this space up and rent it as another small retail shop.
Then I learned in late December that two of my properties will be going through some significant transitioning.
For the past three years, The Downtown Weldon Flea Market has had one vendor that has occupied 75% of the building, about 4500 sq ft. That vendor has decided to rent a building of her own and has moved out.
I also learned in late December that the restaurant in the former gas station building has decided to close.
With these two significant changes, my plans have needed to change also. Instead of working on getting the two storefronts fixed up, I will need to hold onto the money I have until the loss income has been recovered.
Therefore, I will now be spending most of my time recruiting new vendors to the flea market and a new tenant for the restaurant building.
There will be some work that needs to be done on the restaurant building to get it ready for the next tenant that will include repainting with a new paint scheme.
While these are significant transitions, they do open up opportunities for many others.
At the Downtown Weldon Flea Market, there are several rooms and booths, all can be secured when the vendor is not there. The vendor can be present and sell their own stuff or the market’s attendant will sell it for them. The rents are affordable and there are no commissions of the sales.
The restaurant is being promoted as a carry-out kitchen only at this time. Due to the pandemic restrictions on restaurants and the number of guests they can have in the dining room, it will be better for the dining room not to be included with the restaurant opportunity. That space will be rented as a small retail shop.
Know of someone that would like to take advantage of one of these opportunities? I can be contacted by calling 252-532-7504 or emailing andywhitby789@gmail.com.
The “strikethrough” text was written in early January and not posted at that time because I’ve had a lot of stuff going on. The “stuff” has resulted in 10 new vendors at the Downtown Weldon Flea Market where there will be An All-New Shopping Experience.
I also talked with many people about the restaurant building and received written proposals from three. After careful consideration of who I felt had the best ability to build a successful business, a new tenant has begun getting ready to open in early February.
There have been many projects to get both buildings ready but progress is happening.
Find previous blog posts at www.weldonnc.com/blog.
Next time, we’ll begin to learn more about each of the Treasured Businesses of Downtown Weldon.
Please share this email with others.
Shop these Treasured Businesses of Downtown Weldon
OPEN
- Riverside Mill, Antiques-Arts-Outlets 200 Mill St 7 days 10-6
- Downtown Weldon Flea Market 221 Wash Ave Thur-Sat 10-4
- That Pops Thrift Boutique 231 Wash. Ave Thur-Sat 10-4
- Treasure Chest Thrift Store 321B Wash. Ave Thur-Sat 10-4
- Nature’s Manna: Herbs, Kefir and Other Healthy Stuff 321 A Wash. Ave Tue-Sat 10-6
- Trends: Urban Clothing 214 Wash. Ave Mon-Sat 12-7
- Stepin’ High Clothing 212 Wash Ave Mon-Sat 12-7
- This N That Thrift Shop 104 E 2nd St 1st Weekends
- Holloman’s Auctions 207 E 2nd Most Sat 10-until
- Weldon Mills Distillery Tours, 200 Rockfish Dr. Sat 1-8
- 51 Sycamore Restaurant & Bar 51 Sycamore St Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm
Andy Whitby (252-532-7504) has been an advocate for Weldon and a local historian for many years. Whitby has been involved in Downtown Revitalization efforts through tourism and economic development for nearly 30 years. As the owner of several downtown commercial properties, Whitby seeks to provide attractive and affordable rental space for locally owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
If you know of others that would enjoy this type of information on the revitalization of Weldon, please forward their email address to andywhitby789@gmail.com with ADD in the subject.
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