‘Disregard’ spurs Hicks to pull offer for 51 Canal
By Thomas J. Prohaska
LOCKPORT — A clothing store has withdrawn its offer to buy a building at 51 Canal St. because its owner didn’t feel the city was really interested in him.
Lindsey Hicks, of Picasso Moon, who wanted to relocate his business from Main Street, said last week he might end up in Buffalo.
His was the clothing business city officials previously said wanted 51 Canal St.
A recreational sales business wants to buy both 51 and 79-81 Canal St., while a third contender, a gift and decor shop interested only in 79-81 Canal, seems to have receded in the city’s view.
R. Charles Bell, city director of planning and development, said the recreational sales business may feature seasonal activity offerings of potential tourist interest, such as rentals of bicycles and other sporting goods.
However, he said, the deal isn’t ready for the board of the city’s development corporation to vote on yet, though that could change by meeting time Thursday.
Bell denied that the Greater Lockport Development Corp. was slighting Hicks.
He said the corporation, which owns the vacant commercial buildings on Canal Street, took Hicks’ proposal “very seriously.”
Bell said, “The group liked him. They liked his energy, the fact he would have lived on-site [51 Canal contains a vacant apartment], his business sense, his business savvy.”
But Hicks said he withdrew his bid Jan. 5 because even though he expressed interest six weeks before in the recreational sales business, the city was more interested in the latter.
“Coupled with the GLDC’s track record of disregard for previous local businesses that had interest before me, we felt exactly what is happening would happen, and on Jan. 5, I called to retract my bid with Mr. Bell. Since then we have been looking at other spaces to move to,” Hicks wrote in an email to The Buffalo News.
In an interview, Hicks added, “I would leave voice mails for Mr. Bell, and he wouldn’t return my calls.”
“I did get the sense he was frustrated,” Bell said. He thought Hicks needed faster action than the GLDC could offer because he needs to move.
Hicks, who bought the business a little over a year ago, said Picasso Moon is subleasing from a neighboring business, Just Lookin’, and the lease is up soon. Picasso Moon, which started in the Lockport Mall in 1994, has been on Main Street since 2004.
“Basically, I was willing to buy the building ‘as is,’ pay for everything to finish it and move an 18-year-old established business that is open seven days a week, year-round, to be a cornerstone on that block to attract more business, create jobs and give citizens a reason to go down that street every day, which we haven’t had in 20-plus years,” Hicks said. “I could only be strung along for so long.”
tprohaska@buffnews.com
In typical Lockport Economic Developement and GLDC fashion, we are poised to lose another business in the City. Let's face it, if you don't fit the magic mould, you're not wanted. That would be understandable if anyone could figure out exactly what that mould looks like, unfortunately, even the GLDC and the City don't know what they want. So, it is no surprise that when presented with multiple offers simultaneously, they can't pull the trigger and get the deal done. Can anyone say "dysfunctional"?
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