The small, quiet town of Batesville, Indiana is not so quiet these days as they begin their multi-million dollar revitalization project. This includes the $6 million redesign of Pearl Street and the renovation of one of Batesville’s oldest buildings built by the Greeman Brothers in 1863. The building that began as the American Furniture Company and Batesville Cabinet Company in 1879, and later merged to form RomWeber Furniture Company, is today being transformed into the RomWeber Marketplace, a unique shopping experience for tri-state residents.

As national shopping malls and small towns alike battle retail bankruptcies and declining traffic, the small independent retailer faces the challenge of finding affordable space. To remedy this problem in their own downtown historic shopping district, Batesville’s leaders conducted an extensive urban study with help from both the public and private sectors. They found a growing need for "marketplace retailing," a concept that offers small retailers a relatively low-overhead structure coupled with a steady flow of ‘bargain hunters. ’ It also provides retailers the opportunity to reinvent themselves to address a growing market now estimated nationally at twenty billion dollars annually.

An example of this form of retailing can be found in the RomWeber Marketplace, named after RomWeber, a leader in the home furnishings market for over 130 years. The Marketplace will ultimately house 400 dealers with a distinctive assortment of antiques, surplus merchandise and packaged food, all in a family friendly environment. The factory’s original hardwood floors, brick walls, hand hewed post-and-beam construction with first-cut timber and plenty of natural daylight from factory windows characterize it. Visitors from surrounding metropolitan areas will find a touch of the past with a taste of small town charm.

Park Avenue Realty’s Managing Partner, Bruce Rippe, developer of RomWeber Marketplace, commented, "Having the opportunity to renovate a historic site such as the RomWeber Furniture facility into 180,000 sq. ft. of retail shopping greatly enhances our town’s revitalization project."

Batesville is conveniently located equidistant from Indianapolis and Cincinnati off I-74. The RomWeber Marketplace hours of operation will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Grand Opening is planned for April 9, 2010.