Following the trend set over the last year, one local business
will close around the end of the year, and another is up for
sale.
Nancy Bliese, owner of The Lunchbox at 119 Main St., told The
Era Thursday her restaurant will officially close Dec. 30. Hotel
Bradford, also located on Main Street, is for sale.
Bliese said she has known for a couple of weeks that the
restaurant would have to close. She said the closing is due to a
couple of reasons – mainly health and financial problems. The
recent increase in gasoline prices caused her business to drop by
about 30 percent, she said. Business has come back, but not
enough.
In addition, she has “health issues that have to be addressed,”
she said, making it the “appropriate time to get (her) investment
money back out of the business.”
The Lunchbox has been since May of 2004. It started out as a
lunch-only restaurant, then added breakfast to its repertoire.
Bliese said she would have liked to have sold The Lunchbox as a
“going business,” but has no potential buyers to speak of at this
point. She plans to sell the equipment inside the restaurant and
close its doors for good.
Bliese, a native of Kansas, came to Bradford in 1999 from
Illinois to manage at Pennhills Club, she said. While she would
like to stay in Bradford after The Lunchbox closes, she said her
health problems may force her to move to a larger area.
“I would really like to stay here,” Bliese said. “The people
here have been very good to me.”
She said that after she has addressed her health issues, she
would like to at least re-open a catering business or work in
another food establishment here.
Also on Thursday, Jim Colligan of Colligan Real Estate,
confirmed the Hotel Bradford is for sale through his agency. He
could not comment further, however, referring questions to his
father, James Colligan Sr.
It was not immediately clear if the business there would close
or remain open.
The Hotel Bradford, located at 211 Main St., is owned by Barbara
George of 79-81 Main St., according to the McKean County Tax
Assessment office. There was no listing for George in the Bradford
area telephone directory.
These changes come on the heels of several other closings and
sales of downtown Bradford businesses in the last year. Several
local businesses have been sold and remain open, while others have
closed for good – some after many years of operation.
Last month, “Abbasso at The Downbeat” opened in place of The
Downbeat restaurant at 27 Main St., under new ownership and
management. Former owner Peter Kervin of Bradford sold the historic
business to Pure Tech Group earlier this year, citing a desire to
spend more time with his family. The restaurant has been operating
nearly continuously at one of two locations on Main Street since
the 1940s.
Just before Abbasso re-opened, Jack Archer of Bradford closed
Archer’s general store at 40 Main St. after nearly 40 years at the
same location. The owners of JD Novelties, another Main Street
business, recently took over the store and combined it with their
own business.
Fullington Trailways, the bus line business formerly housed in
the back of Archer’s, moved to a location on South Avenue.
It was announced in July that Bloomers Florist on Congress
Street was sold, and would also be able to remain open. The
business changed hands from Abbas and Janet Kassir of Warren to
Dwayne Zimmerman of Bradford, who moved here and opened The Grocery
Stretcher on Main Street in 2004.
Also in July, Fran Nickel of Bradford, owner of Nickel Paint at
10 Kennedy St., said she was ready to retire after nearly 50 years
of operation at the same location. While Nickel said business there
was satisfactory, she wanted to travel and spend time with her
children and grandchildren.
Nickel said in July Nickel Paint would remain open until she
found a buyer for the business.
The building and business are both still for sale through Upper
Allegheny Realty Nickel said Thursday, adding she had not even had
an inquiry about the sale at this point.
And in March, the management at the Bradford Main Street
Moviehouse changed hands from Paul Schmidt of Uniplex Theaters to
Michael Clement of Dipson Theaters in Buffalo, N.Y. Schmidt had
managed the theater since it was remodeled and re-opened two years
ago.
There have also been a handful of local businesses that
experienced changes over the last year or so but were not fortunate
enough to remain open.
Gene DeFrank announced earlier this month he would close his
shoe repair shop at 19 Congress St. on Dec. 29. The shop has been
open since 1938. DeFrank cited his age and a lack of business as
reasons for the closing.
Watt Office Supply, formerly located at 66 Main St., closed in
July when the owners of the building there decided to discontinue
the lease with business owner Virginia Watt.
At about the same time, Beneficial Consumer Discount Co. on Main
Street also closed, but no details about the closing were released
at that time. Calls to the business were forwarded to the
headquarters in Chicago, Ill.
The Jack and Jill Shop, formerly on Main Street, closed late
last year after more than 60 years of business under a handful of
owners and at different downtown Bradford locations. Current owners
Mike and Mimi Cahill bought the business in 1991; Mimi Cahill
worked at Jack and Jill for 25 years.
Angells Family Entertainment Center on Main Street closed last
year after fire ravaged the building in the summer of 2004. The
building is owned by Roger Feura, and is also currently at the
center of a city controversy regarding the fate of the historic
building.
Horizons gift shop, the Salvation Army thrift store, MA Himes
novelty shop, Furniture, Carpet and Mattress Outlet and RDJ
Catalog, all formerly located on Main Street, have also closed in
the last year or so.
