Could ‘Community’ Evolve into ‘Cooperative’ at Waterfront Hall?
Her name was Mary Shaw. Mary Shaw was the first female professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Dan Milleson found Mary Shaw’s portrait at a local antique store, and now the painting sits above the west corner of the bar at Waterfront Hall in downtown Wheeling.
The older blonde appears patient while wearing a gold jumper covered by a red coat with fur-lined collars. Her green eyes and red lipstick offset her dark eyebrows and gold earrings, and her expression is one of comfort.
“Mary Shaw. Mary Shaw was the first female professor at Carnegie Mellon,” explained Kaden Board, one of Milleson’s staff members at Waterfront Hall in Wheeling. “We have er here because it reminds Dan of his grandmothers, Mary and Anne.”
This portrait of Mary Shaw - the first female professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh - hangs near the front bar at Waterfront Hall because the lady reminds Milleson of his grandmothers.
On the stage side of the Hall is an antique, illuminated beverage sign that lists specials for cocktails (like the “I Can Buy Myself Flowers”) and for draft beers (ever try the “Shock Top Twisted Pretzel”?), and in the middle is a bright color picture of Dan’s mom and dad, Lori and Richard.
“They’re a great family,” Board said. “Good, good people.”
And they’re a part of a community that’s blossomed inside the walls of a former kitchen renovation business. Berry’s Supply closed in 2018 after 194 years of business, and Milleson purchased the property and conducted a thorough, five-year gutting and transformation of the large, three-story structure. Waterfront Hall opened the doors in August 2023 with Avenue Eats in place, added the Wood Fire Pizza Company in February 2024, and then welcomed the Be Spa to the second floor in January.
“It’s better than I expected because I didn't expect the support from the community. And I don't mean that as a bad thing,” said Milleson, a native of eastern Ohio and a veteran of the insurance industry. “I had some level of confidence that I was bringing something good to the area, but the support has been very strong and that’s been a great surprise in the sense that it’s sustained well after the opening. That doesn’t always happen for a new business in any area.
The entertainment side of Waterfront Hall also features a bar, a stage, and outdoor seating.
“I think it has a lot to do with the residents of the building,” he continued. “Avenue Eats has a great following because what they do is terrific, and the same goes for the folks at Wood Fired Pizza. And now the Be Spa is starting to attract some traffic, so it’s a virtuous upward cycle that's occurring here and we’re very thankful for that.”
It's not over either. And that’s OK.
“I think the goal here is to refine our processes. To get better and better. With everything,” Milleson said. “I think we can have more events, and rent the Airbnb more often, and things like that. Our week-to-work operations are improving all of the time, but there’s always room for us to make this all more predictable so there’s less stress on the people who work here.
“We also need to make sure that we have a compelling message about our third-floor event space and why it should be near the top in the marketplace,” he said. “Our first floor has been very successful and we’re very proud of that. The live music scene has been what I hoped it could be far at this point.”
Milleson always confers with his staff when decisions are being made, and that's allowed his employees to create intriguing ways to promote the establishment.
Eight is the answer to the following trivia question:
“How many full-size marshmallows did Kayden Board stuff into her mouth for a one-minute promotional video in early August?”
Once Board, who’s also one of the Hall’s bartenders, completes a brief intro, Maddy Butler does all the talking while Kaydon packed away the sweet and spongy candies. The one-minute production was for “The Times with Kaydon and Maddy” video blog that’s released on Waterfront Hall’s social media platforms once each week.
And there’s updates and schedules and menus on the website, The Waterfront Times e-newsletter, a few daily posts on the socials, and all of the effective cross promotions between the popular venue and the partnering non-profits, the hired performers and bands, and the two eateries inside.
Kaydon Board not only is one of the bartenders at Waterfront Hall, but she's also one of the reasons why the establishment has some of the most creative marketing in the Wheeling area.
“The (marshmallow) video is a great example of the creative freedom that exists here, and there are a lot of times when the videos go up and I’ve had nothing to do with them,” Milleson said with a chuckle. “Kaden is amazing, and her creativity is terrific.
“I read a book a while ago – ‘Good to Great’ – and the author is Jim Collins,” he said. “One thing he wrote that still sticks out to me is that, in business, you have to get the right people in the right seats on the bus. Now, it didn’t take Mr. Collins writing that for people to know that because anyone with a successful business has a ‘community’ within their business. It’s more important today than it was 25 years ago.”
And it’s obvious to see as a patron inside the 148-year-old building.
Waterfront Hall hosted the BluesFest after jams following each day of the concert last month. (Photo by Amy Essington)
“It comes through our staff and the interactions our staff members have with our guests,” Milleson explained. “That’s because they’re hyper focused on creating the very best atmosphere they can, and because they’re not faking it. They are legitimately trying to learn about people who are in this community, and then they find ways to support them.
“Just look at the number of our non-profits that we’ve worked with so far,” he said. “Our staff members come into our weekly meetings, and they tell us what they want to do. They hear what they hear about something through their job, and then they bring it to the rest of the team for discussion. We make those decisions as a group, so that’s why I won’t pat myself on the back for all of what’s happened here.
“I will give the credit to the staff (because) all I did was set up some conditions that allowed them to blossom and have a say as far as what we do here and how we do it.”
Waterfront Hall is located directly across Water Street from Wheeling's Heritage Port.
When It Ebbs, It Flows and Grows
In the food and bar service industries, there are the inevitabilities of evolution when it comes to the customers and what they want, but Milleson and his team have chosen to embrace and enhance new ideas along with adding to its repertoire one of the city’s most successful summer festivals.
“The (Heritage) BluesFest is going to be un undertaking,” Milleson admitted. “My initial reaction to watching the BluesFest closely this year is that (co-founder) Bruce (Wheeler) and his family have developed a nonverbal language over the years and it’s going to be hard for us to have the same.
“That’s why it’s so important for him to be involved for the first few years,” he said. “Having him, (his wife) Phyllis, and their family involved is a must because, ultimately, their efficiency allowed eight people to do the work of 15 people, so there’s a science there that I would hate to lose.”
Heritage BluesFest co-founder Bruce Wheeler has sold the event to Milleson, but he will continue hosting the event for a few years.
Another imperative variable Milleson believes must be an ingredient in his business formula directly involves every individual who works for him and all persons who stroll through the front doors.
“Smart business is being inclusive and kind,” he insisted. “You can take the approach that it's the right thing to do, and you're right, it is the right thing to do – to be inclusive and kind. Or you can take the economic approach, and even still, in the economic sense, it's the right thing to do – to be inclusive and kind.
“If you go only with the economic stuff, then that means you’ll have limits,” Milleson said. “But, if you think about economics and also about being a good human walking on the Earth, it’s the right business move because I don’t know why you would go out of your way to alienate people. That’s doesn’t sound like a good use of energy.”
Milleson's experiences at Waterfront Hall have been much better than he expected, and that's because the community has welcomed his business strategies.
So, there’s the bar business (CHECK!), great food (CHECK!), live music (CHECK!), a second-floor salon (CHECK!), an Airbnb (CHECK!), a third-floor event venue (CHECK!), and a creative and dedicated cast of employees (CHECK!), so what could possibly be next?
Give it all away? Not quite, but …
“Ultimately, I want this place to serve the people that work here in such a way that they’re feeling of ownership increases,” Milleson explained. “So, workshopping ideas about how co-ops work and workshopping ideas on what ownership models exist has been a great interest to me, and I think it could be the type of thing that we’ll be thinking about over the next three to five years.
“The story could be that ‘We’re a community and everybody who works here feels a sense of ownership,’ or it could be that they own it, and I think I would be open to something like that as long as the product remains as good as it can possibly be; that the feeling you get when you walk in the door remains the same,” he added. “But first, we’ll work on refining processes and seeing where it goes.”
