News Release - City Welcomes ReHouse to West Ridge Road

City of Rochester

News Release

(Thursday, Sep. 13, 2012) — City of Rochester Neighborhood and Business Development Commissioner R. Carlos Carballada and City Councilmember Carla Palumbo joined owners Sally Kamprath and Kathy Burdick for the official grand opening ceremony of ReHouse Architectural Salvage at 469 West Ridge Rd. in the City.

ReHouse first opened as a home based business in September 2002. In 2005, ReHouse opened their original store front at 1473 E. Main St. “The story of ReHouse is a great success story,” said Commissioner Carballada. “Sally and Kathy have put their talents and the knowledge they have gained through valuable business experience to very good use and we are excited to see them prosper.”

The opening of this new site at 469 West Ridge Rd. enables ReHouse to expand to 19,000 sq. ft., up from the 13,000 at the former East Main Street location. The main floor of the new site is 14,000 sq. ft. with 5,000 sq. ft. of retail on the lower level. The opportunity to purchase their own building with a great store front, more parking and larger space to expand the inventory was the biggest draw to the new site. “The showroom windows are fantastic. The natural light is wonderful. The space is open and inviting, we love off street parking and loading docks are cool,” says owner Sally Kamprath.

ReHouse sells reclaimed house parts from properties that are being demolished or renovated. The ReHouse staff salvages the materials by hand to preserve the quality and retain the value which enables the parts to be reused. ReHouse diverts building materials from the landfill and creates value and jobs out of what was once considered waste. They offer unique antique trim and moldings, brass hardware, architectural details and more to the public to add character and authentic materials back into their homes.

Sally Kamprath opened this business after seeing much waste in the demolition process and many buildings being torn down without saving valued items. She attended many classes through SCORE and the City of Rochester partner program with Rural Opportunities (now Pathstone) that were very beneficial in providing the knowledge and foundation for starting a business.

“The City of Rochester is a great place to have a business. All dealings I have had with the City have been nothing but positive,” says Sally Kamprath. “We at ReHouse are so happy and excited to have the opportunity to relocate our company within the city of Rochester. This move enables us to continue to serve our community and give our customers a superb shopping experience.”

$260,000 was invested in the new site and in the purchase of the building. The City of Rochester assisted with $8,000 for a Small Business matching Grant.

ReHouse previously employed four full-time and six part-time positions. The move has added another part-time job with plans to add two more full-time and four more part-time jobs in the next three years.

ReHouse is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Wednesday; from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

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Media: For more information, contact Sally Kamprath @ 288-3080.