Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly - Aug. 2, 2013

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Business Weekly GREATER

FORT WAYNE

AUGUST 2-8, 2013

Daily updates at www.fwbusiness.com

LOCAL NEWS

Tourney scores big Businesses snap up sponsorships

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HOPEFUL FOR A HIT Looking to take advantage of traffic from Parkview Field, other nearby venues, Rudy’s opens in long-distressed neighborhood BY RICK FARRANT LINDA LIPP

The Firefly has been a popular North Anthony neighborhood meeting place for 14 years and also draws from the nearby Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campuses.

‘Here to stay’ North Anthony on the rebound despite closing of Scott’s store BY LINDA LIPP llipp@kpcmedia.com

Like a mall that loses its anchor tenant, the North Anthony Boulevard business district faced a potentially devastating loss of shoppers and traffic when the Scott’s grocery store at Anthony and Crescent Avenue closed in May 2012. But the district is bustling, nevertheless, with an influx of new shops and restaurants in the past few years that have helped give the old northside neighborhood commercial area a new lease on life. “There’s been a lot of resurgence up n

rfarrant@kpcmedia.com

Rudy Mahara Sr., with his well-sculpted Hemingway-esque beard, stout build and blue eyes that have the look of great distances and even greater stories, might pass for a veteran sea captain. But the 60-year-old Mahara is not a sea captain. He is the president of Mahara Wealth Partners in Fort Wayne. And he has chosen to dock his dreams on a land-locked island of 25 mostly worn older homes and buildings on West Brackenridge Street, immediately southwest of Parkview Field. It is a somewhat distressed downtown block the city hopes will one day emerge as a thriving multiuse area, and Mahara is the first since Parkview Field’s debut in 2009 to arrive on the island with a commercial enterprise: the aptly named Rudy’s. It is an unlikely business for the area: a quaint, first-floor retail outlet in a renovated 1891 Queen Anne that will sell Indiana wines, Indiana microbrews, cigars and DeBrand Fine Chocolates. The second floor is zoned residential and will be occupied by a private corporation of cigar aficionados. Mahara, who officially opened Rudy’s on July 31 after investing about $200,000 in the place, has all kinds of reasons for thinking the unique business will be a success, not the least of which is a small, beckoning red neon sign perched near the peaked eaves of the building.

RICK FARRANT

Rudy Mahara Sr., with wife Susan, envisions solid patronage for his wine, beer, cigar and chocolate business from people attending Fort Wayne TinCaps games.

“One thing for sure is that the stadium is 250 feet away from me and there’s (thousands) of people 70 times a year that walk by the stadium and when they leave, they can’t help but see the neon sign up there,” he said. “The other thing for sure is that housing is going in across the street and there will be development there. And so that will only

enhance this.” But even if the business doesn’t flourish, Mahara believes it could easily be transitioned back to living quarters that in this era might fetch a better-than-decent rental price because of the building’s location. City Redevelopment Director Greg n

See RUDY’S on PAGE 23

See ANTHONY on PAGE 21

n

INSIDE

Vol. 9 Issue 31

Local news .................... 3-7

PERSONAL BUSINESS

BizView .............................. 8

Good relations

Banking & Finance..... 9-10 Personal Business ... 11-12 Top List ............................ 17 BizLeads..................... 18-20

United Way has new director for labor outreach

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