Officials from Curtis Lumber received a royal welcome from Richmondville and Schoharie County last Wednesday.
Executives from the Ballston Spa-based company visited the former Bellevue Builders Supply yard on Route 7 and found a crowd on hand to greet them.
Curtis Lumber announced earlier this month that it purchased the Bellevue site.
Local leaders feared that when Bellevue announced that it was closing, the county would be left with yet another empty building. The announcement from Curtis turned those fears into cheers.
Richmondville Supervisor Dick Lape greeted the Curtis reps. An expert on local history, Mr. Lape presented them with a copy of a map of the property from the 1866 Beers Schoharie County Atlas.
Richmondville Town Board members visited with the Curtis officials, as did County Administrator Steven Wilson and his assistant, Fonda Chronis.
John Sheldon will be Curtis’s branch manager in Richmondville. There’s no date yet for the opening, but it will be “when we can provide the best possible service,” Mr. Sheldon said.
“When we open, we want to do it right. We couldn’t be more excited right now.”
Jobs will be available in kitchen and bath design, sales, yard operations, drivers and more. About seven employees will be at the site at first, Mr. Sheldon said.
“We’re very efficient as a company,” he added, “and our priority is customer service.”
Lindsay LaRuffa, Curtis’s regional manager, agreed with Mr. Sheldon’s comment that the company is efficient.
The 23-store Curtis chain is family-owned, she said, “and it’s not one person. We work as a team.
“It’s like your second family.”