The Property Timeline: March 2022 to September 2022
Our first walk through the buildings was back in March 2022
These pictures will probably take you back to your archive of memories walking through the OLD Dan Smith's Candies shop (yes they are still in business now located in their new building at the former Wein's building). If you are our parent's age, these may take you back to when you used to walk into the Weaver jewelry store to purchase a nice piece of jewelry from Paul Weaver for your anniversary, wedding, or holiday gifts.
Igniting our Entrepreneurial Spirit
Following our initial walkthrough of the building, our family was going over every possibility for the space. Everything from an event center, space for commercial retailers, to even a Kentucky Fried Chicken (yes, we really spent time trying to make that one happen). But once we got word from the building professionals that the structure would need extensive investments thus driving us to demolition, we had to completely revaluate our thinking to develop a new proposal for the site.
Our family vacations at Ocean City, Maryland and a popular favorite of the family to visit & shop at was called Shantytown, until it was sold and razed in 2003. Shantytown was a lot adjacent to the bay that was filled with 30+ unique shops and sailor shacks, where local vendors could sell their wares to the tourists visiting the beach. Our parents always enjoyed this area and had fond memories pushing us kids in strollers throughout the stores.
In 2021, on our trip to the beach, we made a pit-stop in Intercourse, PA on the outskirts of the Lancaster Amish country. We visited Kitchen Kettle Village (as most tourists driving through do) and it took my parents back to shopping in Shantytown. They had shops, cafes, and local merchants all along an area created to resemble a village with the picturesque farmland surrounding it.
Our family vacations at Ocean City, Maryland and a popular favorite of the family to visit & shop at was called Shantytown, until it was sold and razed in 2003. Shantytown was a lot adjacent to the bay that was filled with 30+ unique shops and sailor shacks, where local vendors could sell their wares to the tourists visiting the beach. Our parents always enjoyed this area and had fond memories pushing us kids in strollers throughout the stores.
In 2021, on our trip to the beach, we made a pit-stop in Intercourse, PA on the outskirts of the Lancaster Amish country. We visited Kitchen Kettle Village (as most tourists driving through do) and it took my parents back to shopping in Shantytown. They had shops, cafes, and local merchants all along an area created to resemble a village with the picturesque farmland surrounding it.
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Modern Markets
After lots of family brainstorming and the omnipresent effect of inflation and the rising costs of purchasing building materials, we reverted back to our love for both of these locations and started envisioning a version of these for our hometown of Clarion. We came up with the idea of Modern Markets because of our combined interests in providing a space for up and coming artists, local vendors, and artisans to sell their goods. We have also seen how current economic challenges, including the competition of online retail giants like Amazon, prevent these type of businesses from opening a brick-and-mortar storefront; similar to the mom and pop shops that so many of us growing up in Clarion expect to inhabit our Main Street.
In Clarion County, pop-up shops have been rising in popularity, whether on a Main Street or during special festivals. Our vision is to provide a space for these shops to establish a footing within the local economy and the ability to transition into more permanent locations. Our building plan for Modern Markets includes rentable spots for tent-like pop-up shops. We also see the need to provide hourly rental entertainment space that can host birthday parties for all ages, musicians, comedians and other special events to allow the locals and summer visitors to enjoy our intimate and timeless town.
In Clarion County, pop-up shops have been rising in popularity, whether on a Main Street or during special festivals. Our vision is to provide a space for these shops to establish a footing within the local economy and the ability to transition into more permanent locations. Our building plan for Modern Markets includes rentable spots for tent-like pop-up shops. We also see the need to provide hourly rental entertainment space that can host birthday parties for all ages, musicians, comedians and other special events to allow the locals and summer visitors to enjoy our intimate and timeless town.
June 26, 2022
'Twas the night before...….DEMO!
Getting the site ready for the crew to move in tomorrow (Insert Excitement emoij)
Getting the site ready for the crew to move in tomorrow (Insert Excitement emoij)
June 27, 2022
We have officially started DEMO!!! After some setbacks, this day has officially arrived. We hope to bring you updates of demo and then the site development in the next few weeks. We have some pretty exciting plans in the works and are really enjoying speaking to potential vendors for our three stores! Stay tuned :)
June 28 to September 28, 2022
What has happened to the Cherico Family in 3 months?
Our children learned a bit about:
~the construction industry dealing with permits, contracts and availability of their demanding project schedules
~delay on repair of heavy construction equipment
~seeing the shortage on staff for crew members for those who had to arrive early and stay late to get the jobs done (much appreciated)
-learning about spreadsheet budget reports in the finance world
-the wait game on backordered materials due to covid shortages
-seeing the short staff of construction crews scrambling to jump job site to site
-we needed the rain in our area so badly but it awarded us with a mud-pit swamp for weeks
-and let's not forget, we packed up and moved out 3 kids to college & med school within 2 weeks too!
However .....what was the major event that really stalled our enthusiasm for this family project?
We lost a very important key member of our immediate family with the death of our beloved Nana Cherico.
We were never a family unit of 5, we were a 6-member team, voting and making family decisions that affected all 6 of us.
Fred's mom has been with our kids since their birth. She was our rock that kept our lives busy and moving with daily challenges.
She is now another Family Angel watching over us each and every day!
Nana we miss and love you! Papa Joe and Nana, guide and watch over us!
We hope to have a few special low-key events in the coming months for the fall and winter months at our Main Street location.
Our goal now is to keep having family meetings from now through the winter months and to be ready to roll in the Spring of 2023.
Our children learned a bit about:
~the construction industry dealing with permits, contracts and availability of their demanding project schedules
~delay on repair of heavy construction equipment
~seeing the shortage on staff for crew members for those who had to arrive early and stay late to get the jobs done (much appreciated)
-learning about spreadsheet budget reports in the finance world
-the wait game on backordered materials due to covid shortages
-seeing the short staff of construction crews scrambling to jump job site to site
-we needed the rain in our area so badly but it awarded us with a mud-pit swamp for weeks
-and let's not forget, we packed up and moved out 3 kids to college & med school within 2 weeks too!
However .....what was the major event that really stalled our enthusiasm for this family project?
We lost a very important key member of our immediate family with the death of our beloved Nana Cherico.
We were never a family unit of 5, we were a 6-member team, voting and making family decisions that affected all 6 of us.
Fred's mom has been with our kids since their birth. She was our rock that kept our lives busy and moving with daily challenges.
She is now another Family Angel watching over us each and every day!
Nana we miss and love you! Papa Joe and Nana, guide and watch over us!
We hope to have a few special low-key events in the coming months for the fall and winter months at our Main Street location.
Our goal now is to keep having family meetings from now through the winter months and to be ready to roll in the Spring of 2023.
