The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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    Valley View demolition
March 6, 2009

Valley View being razed

Landmark land for sale

By Patrick W. Connelly

What was for decades a titan of the Shenango Valley shopping world will soon be just another empty lot.

A demolition crew began taking a heavy hand Friday to the sprawling, 50-year-old building at 7281 Warren-Sharon Road in Brookfield that was home to Valley View.

A local forerunner of the large discount department stores that in the 1990s spread like wildfire across the United States, Valley View evokes warm memories for many with the mere mention of its name.

“That store closing was without a doubt the end of an era,” said Dick Larovich of Masury, after picking up a few groceries at Giant Eagle, just a stone’s throw from Valley View’s old home-and-garden department.

Larovich, 65, said shopping there was a weekly love affair for his family. Along with his wife and three children, he stopped by the store for odds and ends of all sorts, he said.

“They had just about everything in there,” he said.

After the antique mall that was housed there closed in 2007, Larovich said he knew it would only be a matter of time before the long yellow brick building would be razed.

“We (residents of Brookfield township) couldn’t see it sit vacant forever,” he said. “It was becoming an eyesore. I’m glad they’re finally getting rid of it.”

The original Valley View opened in 1959, selling crafts, clothing, art supplies, toys, tools, sports apparel and much more.

About 200 people once worked at the gigantic store that encompassed what seemed like miles of floor space. The 136,000-square-foot store had more than three acres of retail space under its roof.

Out-of-towners and tour buses were frequent visitors. Advertisements lured local and regional customers to make the trip and “go Valley Viewing.”

But the fun ended just before Christmas 1995 when the store shut its doors. Valley View Enterprises president J.V. Ferrara cited the sprouting of similar businesses in Hermitage and Niles, Ohio, as leading to the locally owned store’s downfall.

Still under operations of Ferrara’s business group, the building then became home for about a decade to Valley View Antique Mall and Flea Market, which closed in July 2007.

That time the building itself was to blame; it badly needed an interior renovation and roof and heating and air conditioning repairs, Ferrara said.

Other projects and ideas that cropped up in the past few years for the old store didn’t pan out, said Jason Alford, general manager for Valley View Enterprises.

“The cost of the maintenance just became too much,” he said.

The former Cortland Banks building attached to Valley View will be leased, along with about 40,000 square feet of warehouse space behind the original store, he said. Both structures are some 20 years newer than the main part of the store, Alford added.

“It’s really just the main rectangle that’s coming down,” he noted. The soon-to-be-vacant land is for sale and listed with real estate agents, Alford said.

Demolition is expected to be complete by Wednesday or Thursday, said Mark Mirich, owner of All Demolition, Struthers, Ohio.

The death of Ferrara’s mother and Valley View co-founder Julia “Jay” Ferrara last year made it easier for the family to let go of the landmark.

“It would have broke her heart to see that building come down.” Alford said.

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