DAYTON — Price Stores will be leaving its downtown location and moving next to Hauer Music in Washington Twp.
“We’ve known for 7 or 8 years that the building couldn’t justify us anymore,” said Edd Wimsatt, owner of Price Stores. “Downtown ha s turned into an entertainment district which is great, exciting, and I’m all for that, but people don’t shop retail downtown like they used to.”
An official moving date has not yet been announced.
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Price Stores, which has been a staple in downtown Dayton since February 1950, is a men’s clothing and tuxedo store.
“I worked here for the original owner of this store. I sold suits back in the day when it was all full of different merchandise, we were the only people in town that did what we did,” Wimsatt said. “I don’t want to go, but it’s just time.
The business is located in the Fire Blocks District of downtown, which has seen quite a bit of redevelopment in recent years. It’s not clear what the future of the existing store on South Jefferson Street will be, but the Downtown Dayton Partnership is optimistic.
“They’ve got great plans, mixed use with office, housing, and restaurants and such so – we’re very excited about the future for that corridor, quadrant of our downtown,” said Sandy Gudorf, President of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
While optimistic of the future of the current Price Stores building, Gudorf will be sad to see the long-time business move out of the Gem City.
“It’s not a surprise to us, nor was it a surprise to price stores but it’s always a disappointment when we lose a business, especially a long-standing one like Price Stores,” Gudorf said.
Price Stores will be moving to a store front in the 500 block of Miamisburg-Centerville Road.