The Saint Albans Area Chamber of Commerce
PHOTO: Chuck Roberts
Saint Albans, West Virginia
MAIN STREET USA: NEW LIFE IN SAINT ALBANS
Young Entrepreneurs Move Main Street Forward
Deb Austin Brown
Saint Albans Area Chamber of Commerce
Written for West Virginia Executive Magazine
Published on January 25, 2022
https://wvexecutive.com/main-street-usa-new-life-in-saint-albans/
Like those across America, West Virginia’s small towns have struggled in recent years. Main Street has often been filled with empty storefronts, peeling paint, and only a sprinkling of shoppers. City administrators and chambers of commerce work hard to promote and support business in towns across our state, yet Main Streets have seemingly stalled. Just what will turn things around?
Saint Albans now knows. It is our youth.
In the last five years, Saint Albans has seen an amazing rebirth of new businesses. Main Street is filling back up; each storefront is creating its own color and character; business is beginning to boom. What do these new businesses have in common? The owners are young risk-takers who saw opportunity in those empty buildings. When they looked in the empty storefront windows, they saw the future. They are a unique breed; they dream big and work hard. They are inspired and driven to make a difference in their community by giving back life to the proverbial Main Street of their town.
Mayor Scott James has always felt that Saint Albans has been West Virginia’s best-kept secret—but with Main Street now soaring to new heights, certainly the secret is getting out. During fiscal year 2020-2021, twenty new brick and mortar stores opened in Saint Albans. Thirty additional businesses registered and began paying B&O taxes. That’s encouraging news for a small town in the midst of a global pandemic. As 2022 unfolds, we stand on our horizon and look to the future of commerce and community in Saint Albans. What do we see? We see a break in the clouds of the past. A new day is dawning.
Meet three catalysts for change: Bryan England, T.J. Douglas, and Jordan Garrett. These young men all have full time careers. Bryan is a teacher at Saint Albans High School; T.J. is a physician’s assistant at West Virginia Dermatology, and Jordan is a production team leader at the Toyota plant in Buffalo. These best friends do more than hang out together in their free time. They dream, plan, and build together.
In 2019, they started Crafts of the Coal (with reference to the Coal River in Saint Albans)—a premium handcrafted ice cream business that has already expanded to two food trucks and to a storefront on Main Street. They have the amazingly wonderful support of the Saint Albans community and of communities in the surrounding areas. People follow their food trucks and now make the drive to their storefront on Main.
Their delicious ice cream is more than a sweet spot in Saint Albans; it is a sparkplug that inspires and ignites others to take a chance in the business world.
Bryan, T.J., and Jordan are interesting to talk with. Their youthful perspectives give Saint Albans a jumpstart on an exciting new future. These kids grew up with roots in Saint Albans and saw the city as having an old-time, small town feel—as well as being an untouched market on which others often miss out. They all agree that Saint Albans is a community where you can stay to get what you need. Rather than seeing Main Street as an in-and-out revolving door of businesses, they see it as a thriving established core of the growing business community. Five years ago, there were eight empty storefronts on Main; now there is only one.
When seeking a start on their newest business, The TAP—a local tap house with a specialty food menu along with some of the finest craft beer, wine, ciders, and seltzers from the state of West Virginia—they sought out and found remarkable support from the city, the chamber of commerce, and the community. “We love helping others,” said T.J., “ and so we loved having others help us get a start on Main Street.” These new business owners felt welcome, supported, and loved. Jordan added, “The response to our new business was great! Main Street is filled with people helping each other.” Bryan agreed, “ When people come to Main Street, they stay. Main Street Saint Albans is beautiful. It has a great vibe and vision.” These young entrepreneurs are excited and happy being a part of the Saint Albans community. They hope that The TAP is a gateway to Main Street. When people park in the parking lot behind their establishment and come in to eat and drink, the guys hope that they will go out the front door after their visit—and walk Main Street and patronize the other fine businesses, as well.
Where did Bryan, T.J., and Jordan get their inspiration? Much of it came from Main Street business, Coal River Coffee Company. Michael Ervin took a chance on an empty storefront in 2018 and turned his coffee business into a community must-stop. The company’s logo: Roasting Coffee and Brewing Community has helped the store to become a community hub. Almost a dozen young entrepreneurs are now leading the charge in Saint Albans to revitalize our city. They have a common passion for succeeding and for making a difference. Their creativity, dedication, and hard work are wonderful to see.
During recent conversations with these young leaders, it is exciting to see how they are helping to bridge the established Saint Albans businesses with the newer emergent ones. They are cultivating friendships with each other and with the more established entrepreneurs—attending the chamber of commerce’s Business After Hours, talking with and learning from each other. They are forming strong bonds of support for area commerce and community.
Meet high school sweethearts, Patty and Eddie Chandler. Their love story began in junior high school. In 1960 as young entrepreneurs, they opened Chandler’s Floor and Wall Coverings in Saint Albans. Sixty-two years later, this Main Street business is still thriving. Eddie explained that it is the young business owners that have initiated the relationships with the more established business owners. Eddie said that it is too easy for the older owners to shut their doors at 5:00 and go home. The younger owners seek them out throughout the business day and also at Business After Hours just to talk and share ideas. Main Street has three types of owner relationships that all help to strengthen commerce: emergent-emergent, established- established, and emergent-established. Each is important to the present and future of Main Street.
The Chandlers have seen the Saint Albans Main Street landscape change over the years—going from Main Street to the pedestrian Olde Main Plaza and then back to Main Street. As Saint Albans businessman Joe Bird explained, “Boom times of the 50s and 60s gave way to the shopping malls of the 70s, and Main Street was left with empty storefronts. There’s not a city in the state that didn’t face the challenge.” Patty Chandler remarked that when Olde Main Plaza finally went back to being Main Street in 2005, people were happy to have Main Street back. Joe Bird agrees, “Today, finding a parking space on Main Street can be a challenge—a sure sign of a lively downtown. Good things are happening. It’s an amazing turnaround.”
Main Street Saint Albans is under the watchful eye of Parker Mulniex, the Chandler’s grandson. Parker is a big-picture thinker who has worked with his grandparents for twelve years since college graduation and is the bridge to all of the Main Street relationships. He knows and understands the history of Main Street, and he connects the newcomers to that history. Parker explained his loyalty and dedication, “ I was born and raised in this town, and I want to watch it grow.” Parker has developed a close friendship and working relationship with the owners of The TAP and explains it this way: “T.J. is the organizer; Bryan is the connector; and Jordan is the peacemaker.” All four of these young men believe in shopping local and in using their talents to work hard to move Main Street forward. Together, they are a remarkably powerful team. And we all know that teamwork in any community is always the best work.
New Life at Olde Main
Daily Mail WV Special Edition to the Charleston Gazette Mail state newspaper on March 4, 2022
Community Awards
Charleston Area Alliance 2023
Congratulations to Saint Albans Mayor Scott James and the City of Saint Albans who won the Placement Award for our new boat dock and Kenny Sutton Landing at Roadside Park! Congratulations, too, to Mayor Amy Schuler Goodwin and the City of Charleston for winning the Community Celebration Award for their Sternwheel Regatta festival! These were the only two municipalities in West Virginia that won in this year's awards! Yay!
Saint Albans in the Spotlight
WV Living Magazine
Saint Albans: A Dementia-Friendly Community
Saint Albans cares about everyone in the community. EVERYONE. Since 2019, businesses, civic groups, and individuals have been trained to listen and watch out for those struggling with dementia. We want for them to feel comfortable and welcome everywhere they go in our town. We are the first city in West Virginia to achieve the honor of being a Dementia-Friendly Community. On February 22, 2022, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the new sign erected at the entrance to Saint Albans on Route 60, and afterwards a celebration with cake was held at the Hansford Community Center-- followed by a proclamation at the evening City Council Meeting. Thanks to all who made this wonderful program happen in our town! Saint Albans is a special town, for sure!
