It all began in 1992 when I (Sharon LeCrone) got the entrepreneurial itch. A beautiful historic property sat on the corner of Pitt and Juliana Street in downtown Bedford, PA empty and deteriorating. Once the home to a thriving five and dime store called GC Murphies, this property had such potential and I knew it was calling my name.
G.C. Murphy's in the 1950's
I was a recently divorced, slightly broke 28 year old with no children, no other obligations and nothing to lose so I took the plunge. A wonderful program in Pennsylvania was in place at the time for the growth and development of historical properties so I was able to purchase the property with some borrowed down payment monies, conventional business loan and a 3% loan through The Progress Fund. With bare minimum working capitol I knew I was not only going to have to work my butt off to make this a go but also be extremely creative with my business plan. I had been working at a local historical tourist attraction "Old Bedford Village" as their merchandise manager for the previous 5 years. There I had the opportunity to work with several local artisans and craftsmen and also did craft shows myself with a line of vintage style clothing accessories. I knew of the need for artisans & craftsmen to have a permanent home to sell their creations without having to relay on the craft show circuit. Craft shows are hit or miss and labor intensive so a permanent home was very appealing to many artisans. Co-ops like we have today just didn't exist at this time and I would like to think our store had something to do with the growth in the industry over the years.
Bedford is the home to a fabulous fall festival that brings upwards to 40,000 visitors a weekend to enjoy the street craft fair, food and entertainment. Those of us who are familiar with the craft show circuit know this is one of those festivals you want to have a booth at. Crowds of people are coming with the full intent to spend some money on quality, unique hand crafted products and those that are fortunate enough to have a craft space do very well. One problem for years however was the demand for spaces always exceed the availability of space. So taking the advise of our late president— Theodore Roosevelt , “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" I offered 50 indoor craft spaces for the Fall Foliage Festival in 1992. From the time of acquisition of the property in August of 1992 to the time of the festival in October I traveled to every craft show within a 2 hour radius of Bedford inviting artisans and craftsmen to set up in our new indoor space. The festival runs for 2 weekend so I allowed the booths to remain set up in our store front for the week while those street vendors had to tear down and reset their booths the following weekend. The thought of indoor spaces was very appealing and thus the birth of Founders Crossing Artisan and Antique Merchant. Not only could these vendors set up and sell for the October weekends, but they could leave their space set up for months at a time and we would act as their selling agent in exchange for a monthly rental fee and commission.
Bedford is the home to a fabulous fall festival that brings upwards to 40,000 visitors a weekend to enjoy the street craft fair, food and entertainment. Those of us who are familiar with the craft show circuit know this is one of those festivals you want to have a booth at. Crowds of people are coming with the full intent to spend some money on quality, unique hand crafted products and those that are fortunate enough to have a craft space do very well. One problem for years however was the demand for spaces always exceed the availability of space. So taking the advise of our late president— Theodore Roosevelt , “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" I offered 50 indoor craft spaces for the Fall Foliage Festival in 1992. From the time of acquisition of the property in August of 1992 to the time of the festival in October I traveled to every craft show within a 2 hour radius of Bedford inviting artisans and craftsmen to set up in our new indoor space. The festival runs for 2 weekend so I allowed the booths to remain set up in our store front for the week while those street vendors had to tear down and reset their booths the following weekend. The thought of indoor spaces was very appealing and thus the birth of Founders Crossing Artisan and Antique Merchant. Not only could these vendors set up and sell for the October weekends, but they could leave their space set up for months at a time and we would act as their selling agent in exchange for a monthly rental fee and commission.
The business grows...and grows...and grows
The business quickly went from occupying just half of the first floor of the property with just artisans and craftsmen to full first floor occupancy also housing area antique and collectible dealers. By year three we opened up the basement level to make a separate antique and collectibles section leaving the first floor for the artisans and craftsmen. From their it grew even more and we opened the second story to house a bit of everything we didn't have room for anywhere else. By our 10th year in business we had grown to over 150 vendors on 3 stories of the building (Basement, 1st and 2nd floors)and opened a small restaurant in the front of the first floor. The third floor housed a local artists studio and a youth center.
During the course of this 10 year growth span I remarried and started a family. Many of our customers today still comment on watching my four babies grow up in the store. From the time they were just a few weeks old until the time they went off to pre-school, they each came to work with me daily. It was awesome to have the ability to do that and fortunately they were spread out enough in age that I could enjoy that time with each of them. My husband "Jack Payne" was extremely talented with a hammer and nails and we were able to do extensive renovations to the building up until the time of his untimely passing in 2004.
During the course of this 10 year growth span I remarried and started a family. Many of our customers today still comment on watching my four babies grow up in the store. From the time they were just a few weeks old until the time they went off to pre-school, they each came to work with me daily. It was awesome to have the ability to do that and fortunately they were spread out enough in age that I could enjoy that time with each of them. My husband "Jack Payne" was extremely talented with a hammer and nails and we were able to do extensive renovations to the building up until the time of his untimely passing in 2004.
The Payne Children - Keirstyn, Bailey, Alie & Cody 2004 The Payne family 2000- From left to right, Jack & Sharon Payne, Jack's sister Sherry and parents John & Agnes
2007 Fire
From 2004 to 2007 the business growth had leveled off and now as a single mother of 4 I fell to a "survival mode" period trying to keep up with day to day functions of raising children and running a business by myself. Then if that wasn't challenging enough, the town of Bedford will never forget the night this all went down:
Sickened doesn't even begin to describe 15 years of hard labor wiped out in a single night.
Founders Crossing, Round Two!!!
A incredible team of staff, vendors, family and friends worked tirelessly to save the beloved Founders Crossing. Fifteen years of business had brought together not just people sharing a space, but a family. We were all determined to bring back our store bigger and better than ever. So we did!!! The days after the fire people doubted that there would be anything left but through the sheer determination to clean up and rebuild by golly, we did it!!!
The store was closed for one month to clean out not just debris from the fire but the damaged done by the million gallons of water it took to extinguish the fire. The one story side section of the store was still completely untouched by the fire but the water had all settled in the basement antiques and collectibles section of the store. We were basically recovering from a fire and a flood all at once.
After the initial clean up we opened the one story section again for business. What a huge relief that we didn't have a total loss and the community was excited to see us open again for business. It took about a year to have the the building put back together. Due to a change in building codes from the time we initially opened until the time of the fire, we were never permitted to open the 2nd and 3rd floors again to the public unless we adhered to a long list of demands that were too costly to ever be feasible. Today the third floor remains just a shell that may someday make a beautiful penthouse apartment and the second floor is an apartment.
After the initial clean up we opened the one story section again for business. What a huge relief that we didn't have a total loss and the community was excited to see us open again for business. It took about a year to have the the building put back together. Due to a change in building codes from the time we initially opened until the time of the fire, we were never permitted to open the 2nd and 3rd floors again to the public unless we adhered to a long list of demands that were too costly to ever be feasible. Today the third floor remains just a shell that may someday make a beautiful penthouse apartment and the second floor is an apartment.
CELEBRATING 30 YEARS
Today Founders Crossing, Inc. stands bigger and brighter than ever. We have welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors throughout the years that have returned time and time again to shop at our unique marketplace. We are home to 100 different artisans, craftsmen, antiques and collectibles dealers as well as having our own beautiful line of gifts and a country store featuring our own line of barbecue sauce as well as a nice variety of gourmet coffees, teas, dips and mustard's.
We are known as the place to shop for unique items, home decorating and gift giving needs as well as a great place to just meet and hang out with friends.
Those rocking chairs are a great place to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of our quaint little town.
When in the central Pennsylvania area, please do stop in and see us!!!
We are known as the place to shop for unique items, home decorating and gift giving needs as well as a great place to just meet and hang out with friends.
Those rocking chairs are a great place to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of our quaint little town.
When in the central Pennsylvania area, please do stop in and see us!!!