Hometown Potters expands with Valley Street storefront
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LEWISTOWN -- "Location, location, location" is typically a phrase reserved for real estate professionals, but in Todd Tabb's case it works for his pottery studio.
Tabb and his wife, Melissa, who live in McAlisterville, bought the former Lerch Furniture Co., 39 Valley St., Lewistown, in late April. The 7,264-foot, three-story space - which measures about 10,000 square feet if surrounding structures are included - had been for sale for several months.
The Tabbs purchased the building to be the new home of the Hometown Potters' Studio, which had been located in the basement of the East End Coffee Co., 18 E. Market St. Tabb and business partner Ruth Hays opened Hometown Potters in September 2018.
"The space itself is wonderful," Tabb said. "It's taken a lot longer to get it to where we wanted it to be."
The entire first floor, which served as Lerch's former showroom, was covered in wood paneling from the 1970s, Tabb said. "We ripped it down, but it took two months to get the painting done with the walls and trim. Two months more and we'll be in there, so it's six months later."
Hometown Potters' Studio will hold a grand opening on Friday, Nov. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. at their new studio to show their appreciation for the support they have received over the past five-plus years that has made this transition possible.
The festivities will include food and drinks from the Hawstone Hollow Winery, with a pop-up wine cash bar and tastings; Batter and Dough with mini oatmeal cream pies and apple tarts; and Blue Juniata Foodways by Community Partnerships with Margarita's Chilean corn and meat pie.
The event will be held in conjunction with the downtown's First Friday and also features a hand-built project as well as giveaways for a free introductory class, set of two mugs and a Hometown shirt. There will also be a Goose Chip Hunt downtown for a special prize.
"We will still offer the same classes and workshops," said Tabb, adding that the new space will enable them to double the number of wheels from 5 to 10. The right side of the interior will house the wheels and work tables, while the left side will serve as a retail space.
"We had a shop at our old place, but we still had people coming down who didn't know we were downstairs," Tabb added. "Now, driving by you can see the sign in the front window. Eventually, we'll get a shingle on the front of the building."
Tabb and Hays believe having a street-level storefront will make a world of difference to their business. "That was the main problem with where we were was the street presence," he said.
He also hopes the large storefront windows will help make the business more visible to passersby.
Despite the amount of time and money they've put into renovating the building, there will still be more to do in the future.
"The building was in good shape," Tabb said. "We were taking a building to keep in good shape with the intention of improving things here and there."
He favors the idea of revitalizing an unused downtown space, compared to having it condemned and demolished.
The upper floors of the building will be renovated to house apartments - with two on the second floor and one on the third floor. The Tabbs will transform the second floor of a furniture warehouse out back into a photography studio for Melissa, who owns Melissa Tabb Photography.
Studio hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday when there is a class. For more information, call (717) 745-6510, visit hometownpotters.wixsite.com/home or find them on Facebook.