Former Ethan Allen to Become ‘Walmart of Financial Services’
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The former Ethan Allen building in Boardman will be getting a full renovation as the J. Arnold Wealth Management Co. prepares it to be a one-stop-shop for financial services needs.
The company looks to close on the $1 million purchase of the building at 8040 Market St. in the first week of May, says Jon Arnold, president of investment services. Plans include renovating the 16,000-square-foot space to accommodate a suite of financial services, including accounting, pensions, trusts, mortgage lending and appraising, inspections and even a moving company.
“We’re going to make it an all-in-one kind of center,” Arnold says. “It’s going to be a Walmart of financial services. People like going to one place where they get everything done.”
Arnold also plans to hire some 30 professionals who can earn an average income of $100,000. “It’s going to be a great tax revenue for the area,” he adds.
His vision for the center started about 20 years ago, he says. To make it happen, he needed the right profitability and space, and that’s when the former Ethan Allen building came available. “It was exactly the right location,” he says.
In September 2019, Ethan Allen announced it would be closing its Boardman location after the owner, Bill Motsinger, announced he’d be retiring after operating the store since 1996. The store closed its doors the following November.
Built in 1971, the building was remodeled in 1997, according to documents from the Mahoning County Auditor’s website. As of this posting, it is currently owned by Swing Management LLC, which purchased the building in 2015 for $1,000,000.
Renovation work is expected to begin around August, with a projected move-in date sometime in November, Arnold says.
Arnold expects the local market and residential housing boom will sustain the operation. He says there is “a paradigm shift in financial services where people want more for less.” By offering all services under one roof, he can provide high-value services at competitive rates. “That’s the frontier of our model,” he says.
And it’s not a model he’s seen anywhere else in the financial services industry, he adds. He already offers accounting, legal and financial services in his current location at 3869 Starr Centre Drive. Clients love it, he says, because it creates a synergy between professionals rather than a client needing to go from office to office to get services.
“We’re putting the area businesses on notice,” he says. “We’re definitely going to be the paradigm shift to change that.”
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
