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4 | November 22, 2017 | The Lockport Legend NEWS
lockportlegend.com
New Lockport brokerage
partners with organic market
Realtopia Real
Estate and Naked
Sprout Organic
Market team up
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
People entering the real
estate market in Lockport
will now have a fresh, new
option for their home search
following the grand opening
of Realtopia Real Estate this
week.
The agency held its ceremonial
ribbon cutting the
evening of Nov. 14 with a
Chamber of Commerce reception
at its State Street office
featuring refreshments
and live music by local musicians,
the Moonlight Pickers.
“We’re very excited about
any new business coming
into Lockport,” said Ron
Lif, president of the chamber’s
executive board. “They
seem to have a lot of energy
and we want to support and
encourage them as they get
started. We’re all looking
forward to working with
them.”
Ashley York, who owns
Realtopia with her husband
Andrew and cousin Kristen
Shedor, said they are trying
to be innovative and different
with their business model
at the agency.
“We’re going to incorporate
more technology into
our business to make things
easier for everyone,” she
said. “For instance, nobody
around here is allowing people
to use electronic earnest
money, you have to actually
go to the bank, which probably
means taking time off of
work and it’s a hassle. That
was one of the first things I
sought out how to do when
we started.”
Representatives from Realtopia Real Estate gather for a
photo Nov. 14 during a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the
new office located at 936 S. State St. in Lockport. Jacquelyn
Schlabach/22nd Century Media
The Yorks have backgrounds
in IT and Management
Information Systems,
which they plan on utilizing
to keep their company on
the “cutting edge of technology.”
And while all three
owners have been in real estate
for several years, they
only started their own business
in July.
“I know it sounds cliche,
but we just set out to make a
company we would want to
work for,” Shedor said.
One of the unique ways
they did this was by striking
a partnership with another
Lockport business, Naked
Sprout Organics Market.
Realtopia’s office space
is located right next door to
Naked Sprout and is being
co-leased by Realtopia and
Naked Sprout owners Laurie
Sloan and Tisha McGary.
“Me and Kristen are very
on-board with natural stuff
and yoga and we thought
we’d try something different
by incorporating that
into our agency,” York said.
“We’re going to have a wellness
plan for all our agents
and try to incorporate fun
events like yoga Fridays to
make it a fun place to work.”
Due to its partnership with
Naked Sprout, even the office
space itself is a bit unconventional
with a large,
open, coffee shop-like space
at the front and a smaller private
office in the back.
“The office in the back
is definitely more theirs for
discussing confidential financial
meetings,” McGary
said. “But we’re going to be
using some of the front more
often for our yoga lessons
and wellness seminars and
community outreach.”
The hope is that members
of the community coming
into the space will see Realtopia’s
listings in the office
or remember the business
and spread the word, or that
real estate customers will be
inspired to explore the offerings
of the organic shop.
McGary also said that other
local business owners and
residents would be welcome
to rent out part of the front
space to promote their own
goods and services.
“We’re all about community
outreach, so we want to
do anything we can to help
people promote their business
and benefit their lives,”
she said.
“There are a lot more businesses
like this with a more
open space in the city, and
we thought it would be a
good idea to try to bring it
out to the suburbs,” Ashley
Please see MArket, 8