Former Berry Supply Building in Downtown Wheeling Is Purchased
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WHEELING -- The former Berry Supply Building in downtown Wheeling has a new owner, but plans for the property have not been determined, according to the real estate agent handling the transaction.
The building at 1230 Water St. was purchased by Richard Milleson of Hopedale, real estate agent Joe Hughes said.
"I don't know of any plans for the building. The owner bought it strictly on speculation," he said. "I think he may be looking at office space or restaurants -- but it's all up in the air. Nothing is concrete. It's all speculative. It's a good space, and he purchased it without knowing what would do with it."
Hughes said he could not disclose the purchase price, and the transaction was not listed with the Ohio County Clerk's Office as of Monday.
Milleson could not be reached for comment Monday.
Tom and Sue Smith, the owners of Berry Supply, announced in July 2018 they were retiring from the home kitchen and bathroom sales and would sell the building. The move ended a business that had started 194 years before.
Berry Supply began in Wheeling in 1824 after John Berry came through the area on a flatboat, and determined it would be a great place to start a rope-making business to service ships traveling the Ohio River, the Smiths explained at the time of their announcement. Berry needed large open spaces to weave 50-foot ropes, and he began operations on Water Street near where the business is today.
Sue Smith explained the Berry children sold the family's business to her grandfather, G.A. Barrett, in 1945. By the 1950s, Berry Supply was selling metal Youngstown kitchens and plumbing supplies.
The Smiths had been operating Berry Supply since 1984.