What to do with the empty Ames building in Snyder Township on old Route 220?
The building has sat empty for a number of years since the department store pulled out of the northern Blair County market.
Recently, there’s been some activity in finding another tenant. However, according to Altoona Blair County Development Corporation official Pat Miller, residents in the area should not get their hopes up too high about the situation.
Miller explained he received an inquiry in the fourth quarter of 2003 about possible suitable spaces available in Blair County for a proposed telemarketing operation.
“We received a request from a facilities site locator concerning existing buildings available in Blair County,” Miller told The Daily Herald. “We suggested two possible locations and one of them was the Ames site. Our understanding is this would be mostly in-bound telemarketing,” said Miller.
“A building such as the former department store is considered suitable because it’s all on one floor and it usually has wide open spaces. This is ideal for the telesales industry.”
The industry usually sets up a call center by having operators work in a cubicle setting. The wide open floor allows for supervisors to easily maneuver to assist trainees and monitor workers.
“The telemarketing firm itself did not contact us,” said Miller. “Instead, what companies do these days is hire a national site consultant to do the work for it. Not only do building site facilitators have the expertise but they eliminate perspective sites then present the recommended ones to the interested company.”
The other proposed site was the former Bi-lo in Logan Township. However, the owners of the property have since entered into leases with a retailer to fill the space according to Miller.
Hundreds of Ames Department Store buildings became vacant during the last few years as the company closed stores incrementally before shutting down its remaining stores in the fall of 2002. Miller indicated the Snyder Township location has been empty for at least two and a half years since it was one of the Ames Stores which went out of business prior to the final round in 2002.
The Altoona Ames building along with all of Station Mall has been acquired for the development of several medical facilities at the location according to Miller.
“Private developers along with Blair Medical, Mainline Medical and a subsidary of Altoona Hospital will be using Station Mall to open medical facilties there,” said Miller. “This will be a phased-in effort and the first part will include the building out of the Ames property. The goal is an opening this fall.”
Miller indicated the news for the Snyder Township location is not so definitive.
“We have not heard back from the national site consultant,” said Miller. “I’ve placed phone calls to them and have not received returned calls.”
Buildings which housed Ames Stores in other areas have since been used for a number of different purposes including ones in the Pittsburgh area which were designated as furture sites for a Wal-Mart and a Home Depot.
Ames liquidated its inventory and closed its remaining 327 stores in 2002 after it was unable to emerge from bankruptcy protection from its creditors. Ames was just one of a number of retailers including Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise which has shut down during the last few years after facing growing competition from stores such as Walmart and Target. Other regional operators were also forced out of business over the last several years.
