Business

When a friend of Brandi Bruggman's looked down at his Converse one day, he thought they looked like a dirty mess.

He didn't want to throw out an otherwise fine pair of shoes though, so he asked Bruggman if she could paint some art work on the shoes -- they were made out of canvass, after all.

An intriguing challenge, and Brandi gave it a try.

He loved the "new" shoes, and so did his friends.

"Somebody saw the shoes and wanted them, and then somebody saw those shoes and wanted them, and now I have a business," Bruggman said.

The 20-year-old Alexander native sells "Bruggies," as well as hats and other wearable items at Glass Roots, 12 Center St., Batavia, as well as through her Facebook account.

Each item is hand painted, coated to make it waterproof, and inspired by the individual buying it. She said she often talks with the customer, finds out that they like, asks them to provide some adjectives, and then "goes with that vibe."

Ironically, Bruggman said, before she started selling wearable art, she was having a hard time finding a market for the kind of art that hangs on walls. Now, she's selling a lot more wall art.

Often, the people who buy her shoes, or other items, realize how good she is and they commission a painting for a room in their homes.

In all, Bruggman said that since she started creating "Bruggies" in June 2009, she's sold about 200 hand-painted items.

A theater design technician major at Niagara University, with a minor in fine arts, Bruggman would love it if her fledgling business became her full income.

"If I could paint every day, that would be awesome," said Brandi.

Though, the business can't get too big, she cautioned, because she won't let anybody else paint shoes for her. She does it all herself.

Painting clothing has expanded her as an artist, she said, both from working with different materials and techniques. She's learned to use an airbrush to paint T-shirts -- but since each item is custom created, she's often painting subjects she might not otherwise.

"It's cool that I get to draw into new things," Bruggman said. "I draw things I never would have drawn before. The other day I drew a boat. I never drew a boat before.

"It's been opening new avenues of art for me," she added.

Examples of Bruggman's shoes and hats -- as well as a mural she painted -- are on display at Glass Roots, and an order for shoes, or other items, can be placed at the store. Prices for hand-painted Converse start at $85 (other shoes can go for as little as $65). A tote ranges from $20 to $50, hats from $35 to $45.

Seven residents of the Batavia Motel, 3768 W. Main St. Road, were told Thursday evening they had less than 24 hours to vacant the premises.

The Town of Batavia condemned the building because of numerous code violations.

Resident Eric Duda, who was made manager of the complex about seven months ago -- but still had to pay rent -- said he and his fiancé were able to find lodging for themselves and their 10-month-old infant.

But he said everything he owns is stored in rooms and there's no money to move it to other storage on such short notice.

"I figure I'm going to lose all of my possessions," said Duda, whose last extension for unemployment compensation ran out last week.

DSS helped him and his family move, temporarily, into the Mark Trail Motel, but he couldn't take his dog, and as of about 6 p.m. last night, he didn't know what he was going to do with his pet.

The motel has two detached wings. One of the wings has been vacant for some period of time because of a fire in the main office.

All of the residents lived in units on the east side of the property.

The property is owned by Panchal Bhupendrabhai (Duda called him "Sonny"), who lives in Irving, Texas. The assessed value is $55,000. He acquired the 2.9-acre parcel in 2007 from Sarojbahen Patel for $1, who acquired it in 2006 for $55,000. 

Earlier this month, the Town of Batavia authorized a purchase offer of $85,000 to acquire the parcel, which adjoins Kiwanis Park.

Supervisor Greg Post said the condemnation and interest in buying the property are unrelated matters.

The town has been interested since about 2007 or 2008.

"It's a matter of public record," Post said.

He added that "If there were a proper offer to sell the property, we would be willing to negotiate to buy the property."

Post said the living arrangements are a matter between the landlord and tenants.

"We certainly gave the owner time to comply (with code requirements)," Post said.

Still, the condemnation caught residents by surprised, and they all made quick trips to the Department of Social Services on Friday looking for help.

Maken Ithnnascheri, just moved into room #22 on Monday and spent every dime he had on the move and making the space habitable, including repairs and paint. He said he has nowhere to go and no place to take all of his possessions.

"I put a nice penny into it," he said. "They came here late last night and said we had to be out by five o’clock, and there’s no way. I have no place else to go. Where are we going to go in the cold?”

"Everything I have in the world," he added, "is in that room."

Ithnnascheri said he isn't currently eligible for DSS assistance to help him find new lodging.

The motel is in quite a state of disrepair, Duda acknowledged. He said the roof over three rooms leaks, there are broken doors and windows and several other problems with the property.

“It’s really just lots of little things," Duda said. "I just don’t know how it lasted as long as it did.”

Over the summer, he and the other tenants put a riser and cement cover over the septic tank, but it still leaks into the woods behind the motel.

The landlord has made various deals with tenants to make repairs at a discount but nothing ever seems to get done, Duda said.

He doesn't take issue with the condemnation, only the timing of it.

"It's something that I don’t understand," Duda said. "In order for a landlord to evict you, you've got 30 days. So how can the town come in and say you’ve got 24 hours and that’s it?

"I don’t know why he (the code enforcement officer) didn’t do this in the summer time when it would be easier for people to move," he added.

The public is invited to tour the new surgical wing at UMMC this afternoon from 3 to 7 p.m.

A free shuttle service from the Bank Street and Washington Street parking lot to the North Street location is available.

Batavia-based Graham Corp., which made its name and money supporting oil exploration and drilling, is moving into the nuclear industry.

Yesterday, Graham announced the acquisition of Michigan-based Energy Steel for $18 million.

The newly acquired company, with 52 employees, is expected to remain in Michigan and no layoffs are expected.

Graham tapped into its $71 million cash reserve to make the purchase, according to the Buffalo News.

Here's a news release sent today from the NY Farm Bureau.

ALBANY -- Dean Norton, a dairy farmer and agricultural consultant from Elba, was re-elected as president of New York Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general farm organization, during the organization’s state annual meeting in Melville, Long Island.

“I am proud to have the opportunity to continue to lead this organization as we face a time of tremendous challenges in the agricultural community,” Norton said. “It’s an opportunity to make a difference in the ability of our farms to continue into the next generation.

"We face both unparalleled challenges and unparalleled opportunities, and need to find better ways, quickly, to maximize the connection between New York farmers and New York consumers, in order to keep the next generation farming.”

Norton is a senior agriculture consultant for Freed, Maxick & Battaglia in Batavia. His family dairy farm also manages a custom trucking operation for forage and commodity harvesting.

He has served as New York Farm Bureau’s president since 2008. His term lasts two years.

New York Farm Bureau is a statewide agricultural organization that represents nearly 30,000 member families.

Photo: File photo of Dean Norton.

He started his first business when he was 16 and just a day before his 21st birthday, Tim Walton has bought out his first company.

Walton, who is the owner and founder of TopLine Shirt Company, has agreed to terms with Marc Tillery, owner of MT Graphixs, to buy out and merge the two companies into one. This will allow Walton to add a wide variety of graphic design services including advertisement design and consulting.

"Marc is a great designer and his company has really proven itself and was something that I wanted to get involved with," Walton said.

MT Graphixs is a design and advertising firm that has clientele based throughout the United States and has done design work for high-end clients including the Grammy Award winning group Boys II Men, R&B group New Edition and John Neilson of Rebel Spirit Clothing -- a line that is often worn by the stars of the MTV hit show "Jersey Shore."

"It's a great opportuniy for both of us," says Walton. "MT (Graphixs) has a long list of clients and it's great to be able to add them to my portfolio and should result in a revenue increase for both of us."

Tillery has a variety of experience in design and advertising.

"We can help you with a plan to get your ads to reach customers, we can design fliers, logos, business cards, T-shirts or whatever else you may need designed," he said.

As part of the deal, Tillery will now be operating full-time out of TopLine's current location at 214 E. Main St. in Batavia.

"I felt like this was the right move for both of us. It gives me an opportunity to be able to work with Tim and offer the customers I have even more services," Tillery said.

The terms of the deal are not being released.

"This addition isn't just going to add more design services," says Walton. "This allows us to become more of an advertising company as a whole and will allow for us to continue to expand into numerous other markets that otherwise would not have been possible."

(Photos - Top, Tim Walton, left, and Marc Tillery; lower, Marc Tillery, left, and Tim Walton.)

A downtown storefront is not the usual place you'd expect to find a batting cage, but Bruce Dedman and partner Mike Sputore have moved their baseball business to a location near Liberty Street.

The facility features two 70-foot cages and hitters can either face off against a machine or live batting-practice pitching.

Pitch 'n Hit Baseball Training Center was previously located on Harvester Avenue. With the location change, Dedman said, the cages will now be open year-around. In the past, the business would shut down in the spring, when players return to their teams.

The batting cages were just an off-season workout, Dedman said.

Genesee Community College's ball team is putting the cages to good use, and several high school players also work out at the facility, Dedman said.

He's also working on arrangements to make provisions for softball players.

Most hitters pay for monthly memberships, but half-hour and hourly rates are also available.

The business is located at 214 E. Main St. Hours: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Appointments are also accepted.

Hitters should use scheduly.com For more information, write to pitchnhit@gmail.com or call (716) 560-0031.

GCC was filled with young entrepreneurs today as students from more than a dozen high schools in the region participated in a trade fair, selling wares from their virtual businesses.

Debbie Dunlevy, college tech prep project director at GCC, explains the program:

In September 2003, six districts in the GLOW Region, with the assistance of the College Tech Prep program at GCC, began a pilot program related to the Business Career Cluster. There have been up to 11 GLOW school districts participating in the program and currently there are nine with a company. This program integrates an Entrepreneurship class with the international Virtual Enterprise program.

Students enrolled in the class seek to establish a business from the ground up. They design a business plan, decide on a product to “sell," design a marketing a plan, work with payroll and taxes and, in general, learn about all aspects of running a business without assuming any of the actual risks since the entire project is completed virtually using the internet, fax, phone and U.S. Mail.

Students participate in a Trade Fair during the fall term and an end of year competition in the spring semester. All of the schools are members of the Rochester Area Consortium, which includes 10 Monroe County secondary schools, three Erie County schools, plus the nine from the GLOW Region.

At the Trade Fair, students set up displays with the objective of getting visitors to “purchase” their product. Awards are given to the top three schools in the areas of best booth, salesmanship and most sales. Money from the Trade Fair sales is deposited into the company accounts.

All visitors are given $10,000 in virtual money to spend at any of the booths.

This program exemplifies the main goal of College Tech Prep program, which is to provide rigorous academics coupled with hands on or practical application.

UPDATE 12/10  11:12 a.m.: See correction below.

After just over a year in business, Kingdon Family Market in Pavilion will soon close. The economy proved too tough, the customers too few and the big-box competition too fierce.

Sometime this month, Vicki and Jeff Kingdon will no longer be the green grocer entrepreneurs they have been.

"I'll be looking for a job," Vicki said this afternoon. "We tried, but it just didn't work out. We can't afford to keep it open. We're throwing out more money than we're taking in."

The couple had no prior grocery experience, but the building came at a good price and so they made a "spur of the moment" decision to operate a full-service store, with fresh produce, meat, bread -- the works.

They had no employees so they did everything themselves.

"It's tough," Vicki said. "We spent a lot of money, but people are going to Walmart and Tops. We are not in a co-op."

Meaning, they aren't able to pool collective resources and buy in bulk like chain stores.

The last time Pavilion had an independent grocery store was about four years ago.

The Kingdons aren't sure what they'll do with the building at this point, which is located at 6946 Ellicott St. Road.

The best part of the whole thing?

"Meeting new people."

There are lots of bright lights in Batavia this time of year, but a legendary one has been turned off.

When you drive down Main Street tonight, the familiar green and red neon sign of Pontillo's will be dark.

The restaurant will be open, but under a new name: Batavia's Original.

Earlier this year, the location's new owner, Batavia Pizza, LLC, a creation of Thomas Masaschi, Jeffrey Reddish and Jason Teller out of Rochester, were served with a lawsuit charging trademark infringement by the Pontillo family in Rochester.

No word on the status of the suit.

For our previous coverage of issues related to this Pontillo's location, click here.

Liberty Pumps, Inc., has been named among the nation's fastest-growing, privately held companies for the fourth-straight year by "Inc. Magazine."

The manufacturing firm is located at 7000 Appletree Ave. in Bergen.

The publication released its "5,000 list" earlier this month. Businesses are rated based on total sales growth over the last three calendar years.

Liberty Pumps grew 23 percent during that time, to an annual revenue of $33 million, according to the magazine.

The company's management is modest about its performance.

Says its President Charlie Cook:

"Our formula for success is not exotic or complicated, but its execution is critical and strenuous. There are four elements to the formula: creation of products with unique, innovative features that are not available from competitors; maintaining a level of responsiveness and customer service that is unmatched in our industry; benchmark-level sales and marketing presence in terms of attention to customers and quality of materials for advertising and display; and great, dedicated people throughout the organization who are committed to excel in these elements."

He also noted that the formula is reflected in an annual strategic plan, which is created by a consensus of all department managers after a thorough review of a considerable amount of data.

"It is extremely gratifying to observe people at every level in every department so committed to giving customers the best products, service and support possible," said Cook in a news release.

Batavia-based Christiano Cellular has been sold to a Marion, Ind.-based company, owner Roger Christiano announced today.

The new owner is Moorehead Communications, with 900 locations throughout the United States.

Christiano Cellular has locations in Batavia, Le Roy and Livingston County.

Christiano said with the sale, he's retiring.

A sale price was not announced.

The Christiano locations will be closed for a few days in early December while staff goes through orientation with the new company.

Full announcement after the jump:

Christiano Cellular, a local Verizon Authorized Wireless Retailer with locations in Genesee and Livingston counties, has been sold to Moorehead Communications, Inc., of Marion, Ind.

The announcement was made today by owner, Roger Christiano. Moorehead Communications' cellular division, known as The Cellular Connection, is the largest Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer in the Midwest with over 350 company-owned stores and over 550 owner-operated partners across the nation.

They are currently the fastest growing division in the wireless industry.

"After 20 years representing Verizon Wireless (formerly Frontier Cellular) in Batavia, LeRoy, Avon and Geneseo, I was looking for an opportunity to retire when this offer came along," Christiano said. "I appreciate being the first Rochester area agent to be approached by Moorehead Communications as they continue their expansion across New York State.

"My wife, Sharon, and I will end our career with Verizon Wireless with a feeling of accomplishment. We want to thank our employees for always going the extra mile for the customers of Verizon Wireless. And, of course, we want to thank our loyal customers for doing business with us over the years. We envision bigger and better things ahead when our existing sales staff joins forces with this dynamic new Premium Retailer."

Christiano Cellular stores will be closed for the first three or four days of December while the staff goes through orientation and training and the stores are converted to The Cellular Connection.

Santa Claus passed through Batavia today, making a stop at Oliver's Candies (I've also heard that he stopped at Present Tense Books, but I didn't find that out until later).

While Santa was in the sweetshop, the Batavia Area Jaycees were outside selling hot dogs and running a petting zoo.

Besides the three pictures on this post, a couple of additional photos are available for purchase by clicking here.

It's been a lot of work, but Fedora Diner, at 4974 Ellicott St. Road, Batavia (the former Beehive location) is finally ready to open, according to owner Alice Buckel.

The diner will open Monday, but it's just a soft opening for the first few days. The diner will offer only baked goods and coffee. A full hot-breakfast menu will be served once any kinks in operations get ironed out.

Business owners and people with jobs that leave them only limited time for lunch are the target audience for South Beach Restaurant's noon-time buffet, according to owner Ken Mistler.

Mistler launched the buffet a month ago.

"People on lunch hour need to get in and get out and eat at their own pace," Mistler said.

The buffet allows people to come in, place their drink order and immediately serve themselves -- no waiting for a meal to be prepared and multiple courses to be served.

The food is all freshly made each day, Mistler said. Nothing is frozen.

And the available entrees also change each day, based on what's available at the market.

Already there've been days featuring meatloaf, steak, fish, chicken, pork, ribs and all kinds of pasta dishes.

"We want people to get a good, wholesome meal and still be in out quickly if that's what they need," Mistler said.

The buffet includes a full salad bar -- at least 24 items each day -- and fresh, homemade soup.

"We have a new soup recipe every day," Mistler said.

The desserts are also fresh and made from scratch, according to Mistler.

The buffet is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the cost is only $10 (drinks sold separately), though it is not "all you can eat."

A young female entrepreneur from Afghanistan recently spent time in Batavia as part of a tour of U.S. businesses. The visit was sponsored by Bpeace and hosted by p.w. minor, the Batavia-based shoe manufacturer located on Treadeasy Avenue.

Shahla Akbari is a 19-year-old shoemaker from Kabul. She started her company with money from her mother, Fatima. Just one year later, Shahla’s shoes have grown so popular she can’t keep up with demand.

Her team currently produces 20 pairs of shoes per day, all by hand. All leather is cut with scissors and all stitching is done with one pedal-operated sewing machine. Outsoles are made from used vehicle tires.

Shahla brought two pair of men’s shoes with her for her visit to p.w. minor.

“The shoes produced by Shahla’s shoe company are extraordinary," said CEO Hank Minor. “The attention to detail and overall quality is amazing, considering they are made completely by hand with no automated machinery.”

The shoes remain at p.w. minor to remind the employees of the possibilities.

“We learned from her — just how much you can do with so little," he said. "It's very inspiring for everyone.”

While at the p.w. minor factory, Shahla actually produced her own pair of shoes. She also spent time with sales and marketing personnel, and learned about branding and how important customer service is.

Bpeace is a nonprofit network of business professionals which volunteers to teach skills to entrepreneurs in conflict-affected countries. The goal is to help them create significant employment for all, and expand the economic power of women.

Fundamentally, Bpeace believes that creating jobs creates peace. So does CEO Minor, who said he and his employees were doing their bit to promote world peace by sharing their knowledge with Shahla, who stayed for four days during the last week of October.

A total of 40 companies in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and California are hosting an Afghan entrepreneur as part of the Bpeace network.

p.w. minor specializes in foot health, offering quality footwear and foot-care products. It is currently under its fourth generation of family ownership and management.

Felicia Pfalzer parleyed two large pizza's into a 42-inch plasma TV this week.

The Darien resident was the lucky winner of a drawing offered by Main St. Pizza Company to celebrate National Pizza Month (October).

Above, Main St. owner Vic Marchese with Pfalzer after presenting the prize this afternoon.