New year brings new biz to St. Marys

ST. MARYS - St. Marys Square Business Complex is welcoming a slew of new businesses that are expected to further drive commerce at the 29.4 acre retail property sitting just off U.S. 33 on Indiana Avenue.

The revitalized complex is almost fully leased with 22 of the 24 suites spoken for, said Janice Grieshop, vice president of St. Marys Square Business Complex LLC.

Goodwill opened its doors on Dec. 30, The Tap House at the Square is on schedule to begin serving up suds in late January and discount retailer Big Lots is targeting an August opening, according to St. Marys Square officials.

Comprising 36,000 square feet in an area that housed a third of the former JCPenney store, Goodwill offers clothing, housewares, textiles, shoes, furniture, electronics and appliances, toys, books and other items.

"It was amazing to see how well received it was," Grieshop said about initial response to the store.

The store currently has five employees and is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, said Cindy Carusone, public relations manager oft Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley. Those hours will change once an additional 20 employees are hired, she said.

Carusone said St. Marys is a good fit for Goodwill.

"Whenever we look at opening a location anywhere in our service area, we look into a community that we think as whole we could help and also a community that can support the Goodwill's mission and Goodwill Easterseals Miami Valley," she said. "And there was the shopping center right there. We felt like we could fill the void for St. Marys in that shopping center, too. That helps the community as well."

For every $1 of revenue generated, 87 cents goes to programs for people with disabilities or other challenges, Carusone noted.

"Really what our stores are there for is to support our 40-plus programs that we have for persons with disabilities or facing other challenges and barriers to become independent," she said.

Sandwiched between Dollar Tree and GNC, Tap House will have 50 self-serve taps, allowing customers to pour their own beer, wine, cocktails, seltzers, ciders, cold brew and kombucha, according to managers Bill and Jill Roy.

"We're going to try to incorporate a bunch of really local breweries and we're going to try to get some hard to come by craft beers that everybody's always searching for," Jill Roy said.

It also will have small plates and appetizers. This spring, Tap House aims to open a beer garden with seating for 40 patrons and flatscreen TVs. Live music and food trucks are in store as well.

It's a culmination of a dream of sorts for the Roys, who routinely visit breweries en route to business and vacation destinations.

"If you look back through all of our photo albums, he's been traveling all around the country," Jill Roy said. "We travel from brewery to brewery. We don't go anywhere in a straight line. If we're going to Boston we go by way New York upper state so he can hit all the good breweries up there."

In fact, the couple was on one of their journeys when they stumbled across the self-serve model where customers pay by the ounce.

"We came across this concept out in Denver and then locally a couple places in Ohio and we just thought it was a perfect fit," she said.

After opening a tab, a customer will receive a card allowing them to operate the draft system and pour up to a full pint. Once finished, they will be able to pay their tab from the table.

"It will allow us to operate with fewer employees," Jill Roy added. "With the crunch COVID's caused with the labor pool and everything, we thought this would be a good way to ease (Bill Roy) into retirement and do something that he loves."

Bill Roy left his career in the automotive industry, where he had worked as an engineer and in maintenance management, to operate Tap House, according to the couple.

In August, Big Lots, which operates more than 1,400 stores in 47 states, looks to open a new 36,000 square foot site, also in the former JCPenney store, Grieshop said.

"They were looking to expand," she said.

St. Marys Square Business Complex LLC formed in 2018 and bought the property. The LLC consists of Janice and Herb Grieshop, Bill and Jill Roy and Jeff and Kelli Grieshop, the same people behind Celina Tent, Janice Grieshop said.

Celina Tent manufactures and distributes tents, tarpaulin, ducting and military vehicle accessories worldwide. Its products are used in government, rental and hospitality arenas.

With expansion in mind, Celina Tent officials turned to the former Kmart store located in the business complex. The Kmart had closed its doors in January 2018.

"We needed the space and it was a quick way to get the space," Janice Grieshop said.

At the time, Celina Tent President Jeff Grieshop in a news release said the addition would amount to the largest expansion of production space since the company finished a 100,000-square-foot distribution center at its main assembly plant in 2017.

The LLC made $1 million in upgrades to the St. Marys Square Business Complex LLC, Janice Grieshop said. She credits those improvements, along with a consumer shift toward shopping local, for the growth at the complex.

"When we bought it, it was like at 60% occupancy. We've not got it at 93% occupancy," she said.

St. Marys Mayor Patrick McGowan enthused about the new economic life underway at complex. He also noted city council members decided to install electric car chargers there.

"There's so many of these malls that are abandoned around the country and these people came in and brought Celina Tent into it," McGowan said. "It was wonderful they came in. We're so happy that they did it. The city is 100 percent behind them and the stores that they're bringing into the city of St. Marys"

The complex draws in visitors who in turn spend their money at stores there and throughout the city, McGowan said, pointing to the local multiplier effect.

"There is a lot of foot traffic that comes into there. I mean, it's just jam packed all the time," he said of the complex.

McGowan is optimistic about future commercial growth in St. Marys but stressed it necessitates entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to risk personal capital.

"I see that there's opportunity now for people to come in and open up small shops like clothing shops, shoe shops," he said, emphasizing the appeal of tangible shopping experiences as opposed to purchasing online.