Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Grandma Lela needs more room in the kitchen.
A new Uniontown small business has grown quickly and will now prepare to move their manufacturing into the old mercantile store building on Main Street.
The property was bought by the Uniontown Community Development Association July 13 at auction for $39,750 and will be rented to Grandma Lela’s.
“I think this is a suitable use for the building,” said Ed Garretson, UCDA member. “Our first desire for the UCDA was that we really didn’t like having this building vacant. We wanted to get the four corners there.”
The four corners are buildings at the intersection of Main Street and Woodworth.
The new Vineyard Vault will open across from the old mercantile building, and when the former Community Grocery Store building is back in use all of the corners will have active businesses.
Grandma Lela’s will hire up to 10 employees for their manufacturing operation, said co-owner Cheryl Waller.
“I really wanted to keep our business here in Uniontown,” said Waller. “The company is growing so fast and we’ll need to put out quite a bit of oatmeal.”
Grandma’s story
The company began in January, with Waller, husband Steve, and partner Kathy Stilwell making the oatmeal in the kitchen of the Churchyard Inn Bed and Breakfast, which the Wallers own.
The six ounce preservative-free servings are now sold in four grocery stores, up from one in January.
Grandma Lela’s won a $6,000 grant in April and spent the money on needed licenses and improved labels.
“Even though it’s growing fast, we’re not saying yes to bigger orders because we don’t have the capability to fill those yet,” said Waller. “As soon as we have the equipment, we will gladly fill those orders.”
They are now discussing possible sales with school districts.
The company still operates with just the three partners and no employees. Local volunteers help them make oatmeal and pack boxes on Sundays at the Inn.
Over time, Waller and partners have been able to streamline the manufacturing process.
“Instead of one batch at a time, we do 15 at a time,” she said.
The new labels also save time and effort. The original ones were put on cups with a glue stick, while the new ones, which are made in Industry, Calif., have adhesive built-in.
Waller said she is not surprised by the chain of events since January.
“Usually when I put my mind to something it works out,” said Waller.
She moved to Uniontown seven years ago after working for TRW in ballistic missiles in San Bernardino, Calif., and later as the Executive Director of United Way in northern Santa Barbara County.
The oatmeal recipe first came about as a breakfast item for guests at the Inn.
Waller spent three years capturing and modifying her grandmother Lela Carrick’s recipe.
She began putting it in coffee cups in the freezer for individual servings. One day she thought, ‘you could eat this in the car.’
Waller said she hopes to start hiring employees sometime next year.
“We’ve got the plans to grow, but we’re doing it slowly,” she said. “All three of us are working really hard to bring in new customers.”
She looks forward to the new capacities to come with the UCDA building.
“We’ll have equipment, so it won’t be me standing in front of a bowl making oatmeal,” she said.
Building work
The building was built as a mercantile store in the 1899 and was last run as a grocery store in the ‘80s by Dick and Ella Wittman.
In 1995, it was remodeled and updated for I.S.R. Technology, which made parts in it for two years, until they outgrew the space.
“Then the building stood empty the rest of their 10-year lease,” said Garretson. It later went into foreclosure, when owner Tim Crabtree — who had bought the building in 2006 — fell behind on payments.
A trustee’s auction was held on the steps of the Whitman County Courthouse July 13, when the UCDA bought the building as the sole bidder.
The UCDA paid for it in part with $60,000 of Whitman County .09 Economic Development money they received in May.
Now the work may begin to restore the brick building which was long ago covered over. Garretson said volunteers will first clear out leftover items from the previous owner, then begin restoration, which will include new handicapped accessible bathrooms and heating and cooling work. In addition, new flooring will be put in, replacing four by eight-inch painted plywood.
“We want to make it like an old building, and underneath it all it is,” said Garretson.
Removing items and cleaning will be a big job, said Garretson.
“We’re still trying to determine if there are any materials in there that are salvageable,” Garretson said.
The UCDA will re-establish the large front windows. I.S.R. installed higher, smaller windows on Main Street.
Garretson said that Grandma Lela’s will occupy the back section of the building and leave a front area which could be used as retail space, either by Grandma Lela’s, or another tenant.
New bathrooms will serve both spaces.
The UCDA is a public, non-profit group appointed by the city council. Its previous projects include buying and restoring the Main Street building which houses Sage Baking Co. and the project to restore the Dahmen Barn.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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