Appliance champ won't leave First published: Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Marcella's Appliances opened a new store in Colonie last fall, the street buzz predicted owner John Marcella would bail out of his hometown Schenec- tady location. "It would be easy to move, but my roots are here to stay," says Marcella, with the 60-year-old family business since its start. "We added the Karner Road store because many customers from Albany and points south didn't want to come to Schenectady."
The 53-employee operation is among the nation's top 100 appliance sales leaders from a field of about 3,000 firms, according to the National Major Appliance Retail Registry.
Marcella's sales jumped from $12 million in 2005 to $14 million last year. It's the only Capital Region company in the rankings. The majority of the top 100 are national chains.
Marcella's Schenectady store is in a remote corner of the badly failing Mont Pleasant business district. His trucks have been vandalized and buildings burglarized. Tires slashed, windows broken, graffiti all over.
Four years ago, Frank Gallo Florist quit its 73-year stay in Mont Pleasant in favor of Woodlawn quarters. Gallo said Mont Pleasant crime, loitering and litter decimated walk-in business.
"We've had super sales figures despite operating against a lot of adversity in an economically distressed area," Marcella said.
He wants to shift his business to downtown, preferably Erie Boulevard. "But before a move, we need a good new place and a tenant for our present property."
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