Published: July 06, 2009 10:57 pm      

Tire-chain businesses to occupy former Von’s site

A former beer distributorship, vacant for six years at a busy Johnstown intersection, has a new owner.

An entity called Franklin Street Warehouse L.P. has purchased the former Von’s United Beverage building at 115 Haynes St. in the city’s Kernville neighborhood.

The structure apparently will be used for a South Fork-based business that specializes in tire chains.

Officials had tried to help market the property since Von’s relocated to Richland Township in 2003.

Though the property sits at the heavily traveled intersection of Franklin and Haynes streets, there had been no takers. That was partially due to the building’s unique configuration, said Jim White, city economic development coordinator.

“It’s a unique building, and it was built for a beer distributor, really,” White said.

“It’s compartmentalized to the point where you’d really have to do some retrofitting,” he added.

“But for this particular company, it meets their needs from a design standpoint.”

Franklin Street Warehouse bought the property from Mesto Development Inc. for $350,000.

State documents show that the warehouse partnership is linked to South Fork Hardware Co., which in turn is the owner of Tirechains.com.

All three entities share the address of 313 Main St. in South Fork.

While the owner of the tire-chain business could not be reached for comment, the Tirechains.com Web site says the company went online in 1998 and ships all over the United States.