Wilson To Open Ashley Home Store At The Highlands

WHEELING -- Wilson Furniture will partner with Ashley Furniture to open an Ashley Home Store at The Highlands later this year.

The current Wilson Furniture store will remain in Bridgeport, and there will be additional investment into the facility, owner Jason Wilson said during a meeting of the Ohio County Development Authority at The Highlands Athletic Center Wednesday night.

The new Ashley Home Store will move into the former Bed, Bath and Beyond Store in the Power Center at The Highlands, and should be open in November prior to Black Friday, Wilson said.

He noted the opportunity "came out of tragedy" last November after a major fire destroyed one of his buildings and heavily damaged the main building of Wilson Furniture at 227 North Lincoln Ave. in Bridgeport.

The store has most recently been operating out of a third building nearby at 253 North Lincoln Ave., and it will remain in operation.

"We will be re-merchandising there to focus on our La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio," Wilson said. "We will still be a full-range furniture store."

Wilson Furniture has been in business for more than 126 years now, he continued.

"We didn't ask for that (the fire) to happen to us, but like everything else you do the best with what you have," Wilson said. "So here we are."

He said Wilson Furniture and Ashley Furniture have been working together in partnership for more than 30 years.

The new store at The Highlands will be a regional store, and the only one between Columbus and Pittsburgh, according to Wilson. One is also open at the University Town Centre in Morgantown.

"We have 23,400 square feet of opportunity to decorate and show families in our region what their homes can look like," he said. "Our goal and mission will be to show people what is possible."

Wilson expects to employ 25 to 30 new employees.

Ohio County Commissioner Randy Wharton, also OCDA president, said The Highlands took a big loss when Bed, Bath and Beyond closed.

"But I have to tell you I think this is a perfect fit," he added. "I think it will be better than what we had there before."

Also announced as a new tenant at The Highlands was REM West Virginia, a health and human service provider that has been in the state for 35 years, according to office manager Jeanette Britton.

REM West Virginia offers innovative programs and services to youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other complex challenges.

REM West Virginia is presently operating locally out of a building at 748 McMechen St. in Benwood.

"We are really looking forward to moving up here meeting new people," Britton told the OCDA. "We do services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"I'm really ready to move. I've been packing all day."

REM West Virginia will move into vacant space that previously was a part of the area utilized by the AT&T call center.