York Daily Record came out to our new location (former aviation hangar) 50 Northern Way to feature us in the business section!
York, PA - From the whine of the wood saw to the scratch of the drywall scraper, the interior of the soon-to-open Office Furniture Today sounds and appears much like any other commercial renovation project.
However, Chris Mudd envisions much more as he walks through 66-year-old building in Springettsbury Township, which originally served as airplane hangar for the former Valley Airways and, later, for the former York Whitehull Airport.
Soon, Mudd will hang post World War II era model airplanes from the ceilings, tack up posters from that time period and pack cases with other artifacts from aviation history -- a clue to customers that the business in not just about selling office furniture.
"Office furniture is a livelihood for me," said Mudd, owner of Office Furniture Today. "But, it's just not that interesting. Now, I can turn this place into a museum of sorts."
For months, Mudd and interior designer, Marybeth Gallagher, have scoured the Internet and local antique shops in search of aviation history.
So far, for example, Mudd has tracked down a propeller that had been part of a 1946 airplane, various model airplanes and communication radios from the World War II era.
Gallagher spent hours researching local aviation history kept at the York County Heritage Trust.
"When someone walks into the building, it will be an homage to aviation in a place that happens to sell furniture," she said.
Despite the display cases filled with aviation memorabilia, the building will serve mainly as the new home of Office Furniture Today, a retailer of new, used and refurbished office furniture, Mudd said.
And while the story behind 50 Northern Way has kept Mudd and Gallagher busy, the history of the property was not what prompted its relocation.
In 2005, Mudd moved his company from North York to a 26,000 square foot building at 2047 Industrial Highway in Springettsbury Township.
Office Furniture Today took over the remaining space.
Since he didn't need all that room, Mudd said he leased a majority of the two-story building, about 19,000 square feet, to NAPA Auto Parts.
In 2006, the store sold $975,000 worth of inventory. The next year, Office Furniture Today did not perform nearly as well, Mudd said.
The recession saw many companies either close or scale back, and that included buying office furniture, he said.
In 2007, the store sold about $240,000 in products, a 75 percent drop from the year before.
To make up for the shortfall and to survive during the economic downturn, Mudd said he lowered the salaries of his workers, let go of some employees and didn't take on new staff when others left.
"I had to change the structure of the business because companies stopped buying," he said. "It's like a switch went off. I had to go back to the basics."
Soon, Mudd said he looked beyond established businesses and started to sell more furniture to residents and start-up ventures.
Last fall, NAPA Auto Parts offered to buy the building and temporarily lease back the space taken up by Office Furniture Today.
Also, If NAPA had decided not to renew its lease, Mudd would have had to search for a new tenant and pay to renovate that portion of the building.
"I decided to sell," he said.
Rather than buy another building for $900,000, Mudd said, through the recession, he found that he could do more with less.
Joe Spagnola, a sales and leasing consultant with LMS Commercial Real Estate, took Mudd for a tour through 50 Northern Way.
The seller wanted $399,000, Mudd said.
Even though Mudd said he had made a deal to sell NAPA his building for $1.25 million, the new property was still priced a bit high.
Then, in September, the massive flooding that hit York County dumped roughly five feet of water in the basement of the former airplane hanger.
"It was a pool," Mudd said. "The bank that owned the building had it appraised at $210,000 and I closed on it as fast as I could.
The store is expected to open this spring, Mudd said.
"This building is part of York County history," he said. "I feel like I've been assigned as a caretaker of history."
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