Calling local businessman Rick Barker a “pioneer” in restoration and development in the River District, Mayor Sherman Saunders joined more than 70 citizens Tuesday in marking the opening of the new corporate headquarters for Supply Resources, a custom packaging and logistics company led by Barker.
Three weeks ago, the company moved into the former Piedmont Hardware building located at 554 Craghead St. in the River District. The 21,000-square-foot historic building has been redeveloped to house office space.
“Today, we will cut the ribbon on this impressive facility and celebrate the expansion of a local business,” Saunders said at the ceremony. “On behalf of the City of Danville, I would like to thank Mr. Barker for being one of the first to believe in the River District and being a pioneer in the development efforts taking place.”
The building will serve as corporate headquarters and house the administrative and sales work of Supply Resources and its affiliated companies, which are SRI Global, Lynchburg Public Warehouse and Ricker Barker Properties.
Barker said the four companies will be consolidated, and then all four branches expanded.
The new headquarters is located only two blocks away from the building at 308 Craghead St. that had served as office space for the administrative and sales staff. Barker’s decision to first locate – and now remain – in the River District is not a mere coincidence.
“The day I moved to the district six years ago, it was largely a matter of convenience,” Barker said. “I grew up here. I could walk home from here. It was very convenient. Today, the business I own is very different. We have been fortunate. We make all of our decisions in the best interest of our customers. If there was a better place to relocate, to where we might take better care of our customers, (then) we would move there.
“We are not here for convenience anymore. We consider operating from Danville to be part of our strategic competitive advantage. There are things that we can do in and around Danville that we could not likely do elsewhere.”
Supply Resources will occupy the ground floor of the building. The second and third floors, totaling 14,000 square feet, will be available for redevelopment and lease as office space.
When he moved into the 308 Craghead St. location, Barker had two employees. Now, he has more than 50 collectively. Looking for additional space, Barker purchased the Piedmont Hardware building from the Industrial Development Authority, which had secured the building after it had been vacant or only partially used since the hardware business closed in 1961. The hardware business had operated there since 1897.
“The city has been a great supporter of this project,” Barker said. “We are looking forward to you seeing this space because it was you (the city) who gave us a chance to purchase this property. We are hoping today that we have, at a minimum, met your expectations, and hopefully exceeded them.”
The redevelopment and adaptive reuse of the building was carried out with the guidance of the Lynchburg-based design firm Architectural Partners. The firm worked with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to maintain original components from when the building housed Piedmont Hardware. Read full article here!
