Gates Brothers — which has seven other locations in Troy, Sidney, Bellefontaine, Urbana, Springfield, Marysville and London, Ohio — is a full-service, family-run glass company that opened its first store in Piqua in 1947.
The 4,000-square-foot Kettering store and the vacant lot at the southeast corner of Far Hills and Dorothy were purchased recently by Ashford Construction and Development Co.
Ashford plans to build The Shops at 3000, which will house up to five retail or business tenants, at that site.
Gates, who runs the business with his brother Bruce, said he was offered the opportunity to buy the building before it was sold to Ashford, which is based in Centerville.
“Rubicon Real Estate Investment wanted to sell it, but we didn’t want to spend the seven figures they wanted for it,” he said.
Ashford bought the building for $850,000, and plans to have it razed in the near future.
Gregg Gorsuch, Kettering’s economic development manager, said Thursday that a demolition permit had been filed.
Gates said he enjoyed doing business in Kettering and retained the handful of employees who worked at that location. He said he plans to open another store in the city as soon as possible.
In the meantime, residents in the south Dayton area still have access to services. Gates has 24 vehicles that travel throughout the Miami Valley, and offers 24-hour emergency service.
For more information, call the Springfield office at (937) 323-4106.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7325 or jikelley@DaytonDaily News.com.
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