Remember that once-drab one story building on the 700 block of Main that Chris Jacobs renovated into a cool lofty space with a terracotta facade? It's slowly starting to fill with tenants. Rory Allen's growing copy shop is one of them.
Remember that once-drab one story building on the 700 block of Main that Chris Jacobs renovated into a cool lofty space with a terracotta facade? It's slowly starting to fill with tenants. Rory Allen's growing copy shop is one of them.
To Allen, an energetic young entrepreneur, running a business in downtown Buffalo is a wonderful idea. Being located in the heart of the city has been great for him so far. He wholeheartedly believes in the rebirth of downtown and is very proud to be a part of this process.
Allen runs Document Advantage, a professional-grade copy and imaging service that serves a wide range of downtown office clients. His three-and-a-half-year-young business, which now employs seven, just recently moved into the great space mentioned above. It's not just any copy shop though—typically jobs there involve sensitive materials which require dedicated account managers to oversee, unlike a place like Kinko's which typically services walk-in customers with small jobs.
Allen, a Buffalo native, explains why this city's core is a great place to run small business:
“You will be noticed here,” he said confidently. “In a middle-market town like Buffalo there is a strong social network, and if you do something good everyone notices. I run this shop [downtown] because there is a really good base of different sized businesses that need our services.”
Actually, he started the business more than three years ago from his apartment on a small loan from his parents. It's been nothing but up from there, as he has occupied several downtown office spaces, including one in the Ellicott Square Building. Back in August he moved from a building next door into the new space at 731 Main, approximately 2,000 sq.ft. The build out features an attractive loft-like environment with authentic exposed brick and a ceiling sporting rows of hefty wood beams and steel ducts.
Document Advantage's clientèle consists mostly of small to medium sized companies, ranging from 10-100 employees, typically legal and medical in nature. Downtown isn't the only place their customers are—one client is all the way out in Syracuse. But 65 percent of their revenue comes from downtown clients.
Small, creative businesses like this is what will lead to stronger downtown and will ultimately lure the right amount of big investment to fill in the gaps. Areas like the 700 block of Main will mature into great streets, as more vacant storefront fill in with eager tenants. Next door, Hair-2-Go Naturally, a salon and spa, just moved in. Down at the end of the block, at the foot of the Sidway, The Blu Mirage Martini Bar just filled in a key corner space. Squeaky Wheel just moved in across the street and Rick's Cycle shop has been hanging around for quite some time.
The eventual reconstruction of the block into a two-way thoroughfare will hopefully spark even more great things. For now, businesses like Document Advantage are really starting to get the ball rolling.
Stay tuned for more (inevitable) exciting developments.