Teamwork secret to North Belle Vernon’s retail success
Scott Beveridge/O-R The ornate antique backbar at The Foster House
Scott Beveridge/O-R Darla Sue Caley in her women’s boutique, Darla SuZ, at 621 Broad Ave.
Scott Beveridge/O-R St. Sebastian Catholic Church is among the landmarks along Broad Avenue, the main thoroughfare in North Belle Vernon.
Scott Beveridge/O-R The Pittsburgh-style King Chicken sandwich at the Foster House in North Belle Vernon
Scott Beveridge/O-R Jean Ann Gallo, owner of Vintage & Vines Antiques and Flower Shop on Broad Avenue, puts some finishing touches on a flower arrangement.
BELLE VERNON – The secret is teamwork among North Belle Vernon’s merchants who have fostered a vibrant downtown in the shadows of sprawling big-box stores.
“It’s all of us business owners who participate in events, and the customers, they’ve taken notice,” said Jean Ann Gallo, owner of Vintage & Vines Antiques and Flowers.
“You keep it as unique as you can, and they’ll come back,” said Gallo, whose 623 Broad Ave. flower shop geared up in late April for its first prom season.
The borough was sprinkled with a number of empty storefronts a few years ago when her neighbor, Darla Sue Caley, opened a women’s clothing and accessories boutique at 621 Broad.
“It’s a nice area,” said Caley, who prides herself in being among a small number of independently owned women’s clothing stores in the Mon Valley. “I wanted to have something different.”
Broad Avenue serves as the main street in this town of about 1,970 residents. The borough in Westmoreland County was founded in 1872, when it separated from Belle Vernon, a municipality along the Monongahela River in Fayette County, said Terry Necciai, a Mon Valley historian and preservation architect in Monongahela.
Belle Vernon was established in 1813 by Noah Speer, whose family operated a ferry on the river. His ferry service led to Interstate 70’s current route becoming a heavily traveled drover’s route to the West in Speer’s day, Necciai said.
“It was an important boat-building town,” he said, adding that R.C. Schmertz & Co. had a window glass factory along the river in Belle Vernon.
Today, Broad Avenue is also lined with stately houses tucked among a Roman Catholic Church and a half-dozen or more bars and social clubs. The town also boasts Valdiserri’s Bakery, which is known for making buns for nearly every Lenten fish fry in the Mon Valley and some as far away as Washington.
The Foster House bar here only uses Valdiserri’s Italian bread to make its popular Pittsburgh-style sandwiches, which pack the place nearly every night with hungry customers, said Theresa Bashada, who owns the business at 426 Broad with her husband, Dave.
“The people who own the businesses, they’re proud of the town, and everyone has some sort of connection to North Belle Vernon,” she said.
Her husband said he grew up a block away from the bar, whose other star attraction is its well-worn and ornate bar and back bar, which date to the late 1800s and were brought here by horse and buggy after the original Foster House in nearby Monessen closed.
Dave Bashada worked at the Foster House while he was in college when it was owned by Jim Monahan, who sold it to the Bashadas in 1990.
The establishment was named the Extra Point when it was owned by Bert Rechichar of Rostraver Township, who played professional football as a defensive lineman and kicker with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts between 1952 and 1960. Rechichar set a record in 1953 for kicking a 56-yard field goal, something that has since been broken.
Theresa Bashada said the “King” sandwiches topped with creamy homemade coleslaw and french fries are a hit because the restaurant uses the best and freshest ingredients in its kitchen.
“Quality products. That’s what we try to offer here for a decent amount of money,” she said.
“We’re different from everyone else. I like to keep it local,” she added.
Darla Caley said she has created a store with a line of clothing that is different from what customers will find at the mall. She stocks only four of the same outfit in four different sizes.
“You don’t want to look like everyone else,” Caley said. “Ladies want to be different.”
“Broad Avenue could use a second dress shop geared for younger females,” said Gallo, who helps to manage the local merchant group named Broad Avenue 15012.
The town “pulls together,” she said, when the group hosts such events as Antiques on the Avenue.
“People stroll from one end of town to the other. People also set up flea markets.”