Published: October 11, 2007 11:23 am         

Gabriel Brothers moving to Braddock Square

LAVALE - The dust is swirling out the doors at the former Martin's in Braddock Square and it's obvious renovations are taking place.

It's no wonder.

The nearly 55,000-square-foot space is being converted from a market with refrigeration and freezer units along with aisles and aisles of food, home and health products to a retail company that specializes in value-priced, brand-name merchandise, especially clothing.

Yes, the talk is true - Gabriel Brothers is relocating from its Mount Savage Road site to LaVale.

Rob Libby of the H.L. Libby Corp. of Warrendale, Pa., confirmed Wednesday that the discount clothing store will make the move, probably in early spring 2008.

"We're very excited about it and we're fixing up the building," he said. "We think it will be a great addition to the plaza and for everyone there."

Larger stores in the plaza include the recently opened 68,000-square-foot Martin's, Goody's and Tractor Supply.

A call to Gabriel Brothers & Rugged Wearhouse corporate office's real estate office was not returned. The Web site, www.spoke.com, says the Morgantown, W.Va.-based company conducts $250 million to $500 million in sales annually and employs 2,500 to 5,000 people.

The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation lists Jara Group Limited Partnership as the owner of the building on Mount Savage Road, which was built in 1979. The group purchased the 42,308-square-foot building Aug. 31, 1988, from the Hecks Properties Inc. at a cost of $800,000.

Chat also has begun on what may become of the Gabriel Brothers site.

Moving the Timbrook operations there has been one such discussion.

Buddy Rice, chief financial officer for the automobile business, laughed when asked.

"As far as I know, at this point, we don't even own it," he said of the building.

The Timbrook family includes Nissan; Pontiac, Cadillac, GMC; and the newly established Kia dealership as well as the collision center along Mount Savage Road in Motor City. A building for Kia sales will be constructed on the same site where the cars currently are located.

In mid-August, Timbrook officially bought two Markwood stores in Keyser, W.Va., adding Chevrolet, Ford and Mercury to the family.

Libby also remains involved in another project as a principal in Winchester Group Association LLC, based in Winchester, Va. That group purchased a 25-acre parcel off Willowbrook Road at a Dec. 1, 2006, auction for $2.025 million, which was $25,000 more than the original developer of that area bid.

Preliminary plans for a 117,000-square-foot home improvement store were submitted to the city in May.

"We're continuing to work on a couple perspectives and hopefully we'll be able to present plans to the community soon," Libby said.

Just last week, Mike Nidiffer of Interstate Development, Bristol, Tenn., said ground will be broken in the spring for Willowbrook Market Place, a 400,000-square-foot shopping center.

The property the Winchester group owns sits almost in the middle of the market place.

Maria Smith can be reached at msmith@times-news.com.