J. Jay Filling doesn't have the usual trappings of a pioneer.
There are no sod-busting plows, kerosene lamps or canvas shanties at his new store at 681 Harrisburg Pike.
Just the fine fabrics of the men's and women's clothing that his family has sold for more than half a century, but in a more lavish setting than his other store on West Lemon Street.
Yet Filling's on College Row is a pioneer, nevertheless, in being the first business to clear away the posters lining the shop windows in the new retail center across from Franklin & Marshall College and open its doors to the public.
Joining Filling's soon will be Iron Hill Brewing, a restaurant/brew pub that expects to open late next month, said Kevin Finn, Iron Hill's president.
Filling isn't daunted by being first. It was just more important to get the new shop open in time for the all-important fall season, he said. The first day of business was Oct. 10. A grand opening is planned for Nov. 1.
"We feel really good about what's going on here" at the College Row shopping complex, Filling said. "This will be the vibrant part of Lancaster city."
Filling and the developers expect other shops will soon follow Filling's lead.
"We have several other retailers we're talking to," said Miles H. Orth, chief operating officer of College Apartments Inc., which is the college's partner in developing the project. "Three of them are local, one of them a restaurant," he said.
Orth said he can't go into detail about what shoppers should expect at College Row until the leases are signed, but some of the prospects include a restaurant offering Asian cuisine, another restaurant company that has experience operating sports bars in college towns, a coffee/goodies shop and a house-furnishings store "akin to Bed Bath & Beyond."
"We're being careful with the tenant mix," Orth said. "We want to have a really sophisticated mix of retailers ... consistent with all the best expectations the college has of us."
Steven Gartner, president of Metro Commercial, which is brokering the leases, said the businesses will be disclosed after the agreements are signed.
"Well before they open, the names will be out there," he said.
Orth said that Metro Commercial doesn't sign any agreement until Franklin & Marshall's administration has had a chance to look at the prospective tenant.
Franklin & Marshall College owns the College Row property, and its students occupy the apartments above the shops. College Apartments Inc. provided the equity capital to develop the project and is in charge of operating the complex.
The company is also in the early stages of developing a similar complex with Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Orth said.
Unlike college dorms, the housing above the shops consists of four-, two- and one-bedroom apartments with full-size kitchens. Students must be juniors or seniors to live there and usually line up their friends as roommates before signing their leases.
All 393 beds have been filled since students started moving in Aug. 15, Orth said.
In addition to the housing for students, the project will provide a "much more attractive gateway" to the college, F&M President John Fry said.
"It will bring to Franklin & Marshall, for the first time, a feel for what a college town is like," he said. "It significantly enlivens the street and makes the street safer."
Fry envisions a cafe scene with people spilling onto the sidewalks.
"It's the best way to humanize the area," he said.
And some of the students spilling onto the sidewalks will undoubtedly find their way to Filling's on College Row.
Still, Filling expects it will be his core longtime customers who will keep the store going as College Row fills up and he develops a new clientele.
"We will not leave our roots, and our roots are classic" clothing, Filling said.
The new store is just a few blocks from the old store, which has been renamed Filling's Rack on Lemon. The old store will specialize in clearance items and continue to be a dry-cleaning drop-off.
But Filling does hope eventually to tap into the younger market. That was one of the reasons for the move along with the visibility on Harrisburg Pike and the ease of parking.
"We needed to inject some youth into our business. Our base was getting older, retiring," he said.
"The students we're really trying to figure out. We're aggressively trying to address that and figure out how that symbiotic relationship works," he said.
And even more than the students, Filling is hoping to tap into their parents when they visit the campus.
"The parents are a large part of our growth opportunity," he said. "People who have time on their hands and the mentality of being away from home tend to shop more."
Dennis Larison is editor of the Business section and can be reached by telephone at 291-8753 or by e-mail at dlarison@lnpnews.com.
