Boom And Bust

The Mason Industrial Park building at 1 Precision Way, Ellicott, had been vacant since 2018 when MD Electronics closed – but as Raj Das Gupta, Electrovaya CEO, told The Post-Journal in November, the lithium ion battery manufacturer chose the Jamestown area thanks in part to Heidehnahn, the former owner of the Mason Industrial Park building.

“The region plays a major role in our selection,” Das Gupta said. “What we wanted was a place where we could find good people. That was ultimately the most important asset in any manufacturing site and I think that gets understated by corporations in general. But myself we had an experience where we had a facility in a place, this was in Europe, where it was very hard to find good people and that facility suffered as a result. That was a key selection criteria. Jamestown has a history of manufacturing. We spoke with Heidenhahn quite a bit, that was the previous owner of this facility, about the people that they had working there and while they shut that facility down I think they gave Electrovaya a particularly good deal and worked with us because we were going to bring jobs back and because we were going to manufacture in Jamestown.”

Proximity was another key factor in the selection of Chautauqua County. Electrovaya supplies batteries for the Raymond Corporation, a manufacturing company located in Greene County in New York state and has a contract to supply a Toyota plant in Indiana. The Ellicott facility is also close to Electrovaya’s plant in Ontario, Canada. A hydropower allotment from the New York Power Authority and lower-cost utilities through the Board of Public Utilities was a selling point, as were state and local incentives.

“The fact that we could get relatively low cost electricity,” DasGupta said. “Making lithium ion batteries uses massive amounts of energy. And having that both being renewable and relative low cost worked in our favor. The last is we had seen good support from New York state. We have had previous relationships with NYSERDA. It made sense to locate in New York. Probably if you looked at it on an incentive basis alone we probably would have been able to have maybe more lucrative offers elsewhere but I think we made the correct decisions. We’re very proud to be Jamestown residents.”

The Electrovaya plant on Precision Way, Ellicott, is pictured. Electrovaya officials are optimistic a financing package for the plant will be finalized soon with an eye toward beginning manufacturing in mid-2025.
P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

The road to opening for Electrovaya has been a long one. News that the company was eyeing Ellicott became public in 2023 when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a New York Power Authority hydropower allotment for the company. Securing construction financing held the project up, but those hurdles were cleared in November. The

Ellicott plant will soon be turning out Electrovaya’s proprietary Infinity lithium-ion ceramic cells, which offer industry leading longevity and safety. Production is expected to begin this year, with full employment likely coming later.

“So I would imagine it is in the year 2026,” DasGupta said regarding the plant reaching full capacity. “It’ll be a ramp up. It won’t be from day one. But we believe we have the demand to move this to three shifts. That will be around that 250 number.”

LOCAL RESTAURANT TO BEGIN FRANCHISING

Readers flocked to a Post-Journal story earlier this year about Fifties Grill and Dairy owners’ decision to partner with Franchise Marketing Systems, an Atlanta-based company, to begin the process of expanding regionally.

A sign notifying the public that Forte has closed its doors is pictured.
P-J photo by John Whittaker

For co-owners and brothers, Mike and Steve Jones, the founders and proprietors of Fifties Grill and Dairy, expanding and franchising is a dream come true and another step in the family’s business evolution.

“Our dad owned a Dairy Queen franchise,” said Steve Jones. “When we opened our stores, we tried to model it between various fast-food chain models and a sit-down restaurant. However, we added and focused on an extra layer of quality to our products – with a 1950s era for our decor as the backdrop.”

For Chris Conner, the president of FMS, Fifties offers a unique and expansive menu with high-quality, reasonable-cost, price-points, which in his opinion sets them apart from other franchising options.

“From the tasty burgers to a large menu selection, to the reasonable price-points and the unique throw-back design and layout, this is a winning situation when it comes to selling this model as a franchise,” he said. “Most fast-food places only offer basic burgers, shakes and side-item options. But, here, you have a full menu.”

According to fmsfranchise.com, Conner has worked with and helped establish franchises with corporations such as Anytime Fitness, Baxter Healthcare, Blimpie, Hungry Howie’s Pizza, Restoration 1, Smash My Trash and Two Men and a Truck. Furthermore, Conner oversees a staff of 28 developers, and Since 2009, has developed more than 400 franchises.

A ribbon-cutting for Wicked Warren’s Jamestown was held in July. The location was bought in July by Wicked Jimmy, LLC for $1.75 million.
Submitted photo

“It’s about finding the right product that has a marketability to it. Fifties is marketable, has a great cost-point, high-quality food. I think it will take off and be a big hit,” said Conner.

TWO RESTAURANTS LOOKING TO OPEN DOORS IN LAKEWOOD

News that Lakewood will be adding a Chipotle and a Popeye’s as outparcel developments of the Chautauqua Mall generated conversation last spring. Quattro Development, LLC has received local approvals for its Chipotle and Popeye’s Co-Development Project at 318 E. Fairmount Ave. The project will redevelop empty parking spaces in front of JCPenney for two two new buildings to house Chipotle and Popeye’s fast-food restaurants.

The redevelopment will include reduction of impenetrable surfaces and the addition of green space which are proposed rain gardens.

“We are exploring opportunities to bring our real food to the Lakewood community,” said Annie Gradinger, a representative for Chipotle.

Already at the mall location, near JCPenney, there is a Taco Bell restaurant.

A Popeye’s drive-through restaurant is being built in Dunkirk.

FORMER JAMESTOWN BREWING COMPANY BUILDING HAS NEW OWNER

A longstanding legal fight over the former Jamestown Brewing Company building came to an end this summer when Wicked Warren’s owner Rob Roth stepped forward to purchase the building, which was in the midst of a foreclosure fight between Evans Bank and former owner George Patti III, to open a Wicked Warren’s at the 115-121 W. Third St., Jamestown, building.

“We’ve done considerable planning and are looking forward to getting this business up and running as soon as possible,” Roth said. “Once open and operational, Wicked Jimmy’s will brew craft beer, serve food, and host corporate meetings and ball room events. It will also provide live music, feature a ‘Speak Easy Room,’ and in the future open a roof top bar. Our goal is to make 119 W. Third St. Jamestown’s premier entertainment destination.”

The Post-Journal reported in June that George Patti III had said in court documents filed as part of the foreclosure action that a sale of the former Jamestown Brewing Company building was being negotiated. That sale, Patti said, would allow him to pay off the loan with Evans Bank and resolve the foreclosure case.

Jamestown Brewing Co. closed in July 2020 after its application for federal Paycheck Protection Program funding was denied. The brewer was in business for about a year, with a grand opening pushed back because of construction delays and lawsuits between Patti and the company’s owners. Turning the former Lillian Vitanza Ney Renaissance Center into Jamestown Brewing Company cost about $5.1 million, an amount that included the cost to purchase the building. The project initially received $830,000 through the state Downtown Revitalization Initiative, a $475,000 state Main Street grant, around $200,000 from city officials in Community Development Block Grant funding for facade enhancements and Americans With Disabilities Act improvements, a $180,000 Jamestown Local Development Corporation loan, $100,000 from the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and $50,000 from the Greater Jamestown Zone Capital Corporation.

FORTE, RED LOBSTER CLOSE LOCAL LOCATIONS

Summer brought news that two restaurants had closed up shop – one unexpectedly, the other the result of corporate decisions.

Forte announced on its Facebook page that the downtown restaurant is closed. The restaurant reopened under new management late in 2023 after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. New management renovated the Third Street restaurant space and reopened in December.

In a detailed statement, Greg Albert, the restaurant’s general manager, thanked his staff for the work they’ve put into the restaurant over the past several months.

“With that being said, we have run out of money to continue viably operating the space,” Albert said. “… But truthfully, a lot of stars just didn’t quite line up, and moving forward just was no longer a productive option.”

A couple of days later, employees of the Red Lobster location in Lakewood began posting on social media that they had been told the restaurant was closed. The Red Lobster website lists the Fairmount Avenue, Lakewood, location as closed along with the restaurant’s locations in Erie and Buffalo.

The Red Lobster news isn’t surprising. In February, minority investor Thai Union Group announced its plans to exit Red Lobster’s ownership group after a $19 million loss for the first nine months of the 2023 fiscal year. Then, during a Feb. 14 conference call with investor analysts, Thai Union Group officials updated said Red Lobster generated $22 million in losses in 2023, with CNN reporting that Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Group, said his conglomerate wasn’t expecting to net much from the sale of its Red Lobster ownership stake.

Bloomberg News reported in mid April that Red Lobster officials were considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The company’s finances took a hit in 2023 with its Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal that ended up costing restaurants money rather than making money.