Business

July 24, 2009

Blue Chip Gourmet set to open

Two national retailers and three restaurants also are looking to open in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

C. RYAN BARBERTimes Leader Intern

WILKES-BARRE – Reputed on the rink for his bone-crushing hits and bloody brawls, former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins enforcer Dennis Bonvie will soon be showing downtown Wilkes-Barre his sweet side—and sweet-tooth.

Bonvie, 35, is opening Blue Chip Gourmet, a growing vendor of baked goods, coffee, sorbetto and gelato, at 11 a.m. Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the corner of East Northampton and South Main streets.

The store, situated at the corner location of the University Corners property, is the first of several companies set to expand into downtown Wilkes-Barre, said Bill Fraser, the director of retailer services at Colliers Arnold Commercial Real Estate Services.

Fraser, whose company is collaborating with University Corners owner Carlsberg Management Company to fill the property’s 30,000 square feet of retail space, said two national retailers and three restaurants are currently in lease negotiations that may be announced within the next 30 days.

For Fraser, the recent interest marks not only a trend of renewed expansion by retailers but also a growing realization of the downtown’s potential.

“At the end of 2008, no one was doing deals,” Fraser said. “Retailers are now breaking clear and starting to do deals, and we’re getting more action and comments with Wilkes-Barre. They’re beginning to understand the area.”

Fraser added that the recent interest in University Corners, which is sandwiched by King’s College and Wilkes University, comes at a time of “true synergy” in the downtown corridor with the development of the River Common and other revitalization projects.

“It’s a solid market and this is one of the strongest areas we’ve seen,” he said. “The retailers in our industry are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Of the companies that have expressed interest in the University Corners property in the past year, Fraser said Blue Chip Gourmet was offered the corner location because it represents an unfilled niche industry in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The Wilkes-Barre franchise, situated immediately adjacent to the defunct Quiznos Sub Shop, will be Pennsylvania’s first and provides Wilkes-Barre with what Fraser called “a hybrid between Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery.”

Store manager Neil DeAngelo said the food offerings range far beyond ice cream and coffee.

DeAngelo will be hiring 10 employees for full- and part-time positions.

“For the most part I think it’s going to be a very positive thing to have Blue Chip Gourmet next door,” said Jessica Januzzi, a store manager at Januzzi’s Pizza & Subs. “There can be some complementary aspect to having them here because they aren’t serving quite the same foods we are, and any time there are more people walking around downtown, that’s a good thing for all the businesses here.”

For Bonvie, that ultimate goal—to help revive Wilkes-Barre and its businesses—was worth enduring the months of preparation and aggravating construction complications that delayed the grand opening from its original March date.

“We wanted to help revitalize downtown Wilkes-Barre and we saw Blue Chip Gourmet as a great opportunity to get into something with a really good product,” he said.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews