by Stefan Klosowski
Mark Ratcliffe has always loved “visual merchandising” and has had a number of fascinating positions before setting his sights on West Reading.
Mark grew up in the retail business working in men’s furnishings in his home town of San Luis Obispo, California and also attended California Polytechnic. He later moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and worked for a division of Marshall Fields called Fredrick and Nelsons and was the ‘visual manager’ for the home furnishings department.
Later Mark moved to Carmel, California and worked for Godiva Chocolatier as a Store Manager when they had 30 stores. Within a couple of years, he became a district manager and moved to Los Angeles. Godiva did not have a visual program, so he enrolled at the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. At Otis he took visual merchandising classes and created a visual program for Godiva that was tested in California. Eventually he was hired as the National Visual Merchandising Manager for Godiva and helped them open over 50 stores. After being employed at Godiva for ten years, they had opened over 300 stores.
“I had always had a dream of opening a coffee shop, so I left Godiva to open a coffee shop in West Reading. I had a partner and we created a buying group and opened 15 cafes between West Chester and Wilkes Bare. It was shortly after that the Main Street Program began in West Reading. I could see the future and had a vision of how I felt West Reading could grow.”
Eight years later Mark sold his half of the business to his partner and started a small chain of smoothie shops. He did this for six years until the economy trended down and was forced to close shop. After that set back, he was employed as a manager for Barnes & Noble and started the Reading Pretzel Fest. This Festival brought him to work for Habitat for Humanity as they were looking for fundraisers. He was hired as their development director and gave the festival to them. He also started their signature fundraiser, The Birdhouse Challenge.
It was that experience that really got him excited about community development. So, when the West Reading Main Street position came up, he felt this was a perfect fit. Mark has been a Main Street Manager in West Reading for three years and feels that this type of work is the culmination of all of his past experiences. He works in an area he loves and with people whom he holds great respect. He has now lived in PA for over thirty years and it has been his goal to improve the local community.
This Main Street Manager recognizes that the business community is the highlight of their Main Street program. His number one job is the promotion of the businesses on Penn Ave and directing customers into the shops and restaurants. It has been a work in progress for over 20 years; mainly organic growth. The Main Street Facade Program has helped stabilize the Main Street effort. However, where they saw the greatest community change concerning facades is in their Elm Street Program. He looks forward to showcasing the great Main Street and Elm Street programs and will be presenting the vision and objectives of their new Five Year Strategy at the PA Downtown Center’s Conference in next June.
Mark has a girlfriend and two great kids aged 17 & 19. His daughter is in her first year at Penn State’s School of Business at State College. His son is a senior in high school and is currently looking at art and design schools. Mark enjoys the arts; including culinary arts, theater, concerts and museums. He likes being creative and enjoys sports. He plays tennis and is getting into pickleball. He has been lucky enough to travel and is looking forward to a trip to Wimbledon this summer and taking the Chunnel to France.
Some of West Reading’s recent achievements include:
Establishing a new profitable event, called the Craft Pretzel & Beer Fest that is unique to the area and is a great fundraiser.
Celebrating a series of twelve events throughout the year that have grossed $136,000 and netted $77,000.
Providing funding to develop a Five Year Strategic Plan.
Creating a number of public private partnerships with local lot owners to establish a paid parking program. This has solved some of the downtown parking issues.
Raising funds for the purchase and rehabilitation of a building for the relocation of their main office, as well as being able to rent out space.
The West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation’s Goals include:
Having a Business Improvement District in place by the end of this year.
The redevelopment of the West Reading Shopping Center, which is the largest property in the Borough. Working with the property owner to redevelop this property, and to bring the retail to the front of the property and build a parking garage.
The Five Year Plan should be completed in Spring.
Preparing application and becoming a designated Keystone Community Main Street/Elm Street program.
Establish a new branding image and making West Reading the best destination to visit in Berks County and beyond.
Expanding the successful Elm Street Mural Corridors program to Court Street. This will include the development of a self-guided walking tour with an app and QR codes.
Mark Ratcliffe
Main Street Manager
West Reading
20 N. 6th Avenue
West Reading, PA 19611
484-797-5954 | www.visitwestreading.com
West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation
610-685-8854