West Reading Avenues Fall 2017 - 8

RETAILER'S
IN
THE COMMUNITY
PERSPECTIVE

New MaiN
Street
MaNager
haS high
hopeS for
Borough
By Susan Shelly, Hoffmann Publishing Group

M

ark Ratcliffe hasn't enough
good things to say about
West Reading, or about
his position as the recently hired Main
Street Manager.

Originally from San Luis Obispo, a
city located about halfway between Los
Angeles and San Francisco in California, he attended and graduated from a
college in Seattle, Washington.

"This is kind of a bucket list job for
me," he said during a recent interview
at Café Bold on Penn Avenue. "I always
wanted to get more involved with West
Reading. It's just so much fun to be in
a community that's so vibrant."

He was working in visual marketing
for a large department store there when
he was hired by Godiva Chocolatier
as manager of its Carmel, California
store. He soon was promoted and sent
to Los Angeles where he created and
ran a visual merchandising program
for Godiva, helping the company to
grow from 25 stores to 300.

Ratcliffe is no stranger to the borough, having owned and operated the
former Hard Bean Café and former
Thirstaid Fresh Café, both on Penn
Avenue.
Most recently, he served as development director at Habitat for Humanity
of Berks County.
"I was passionate about the Habitat
job because I believe in the organization's mission," Ratcliffe said. "But
I'm finding out that I'm even more
passionate about this job."
With a background in retail and visual
merchandising, Ratcliffe has lived in
various locations.

6

Avenues Fall 2017

And then, Godiva told Ratcliffe that
he was being transferred to the East
Coast.
"I had a choice of going to either
New York or Reading, but the salary
was the same regardless of which place
I picked, so I picked Reading," he said.
It was a move he has never regretted.
"I remember driving into Reading and
thinking how beautiful it was," Ratcliffe
said. "After living for so long in the
West, I was just amazed at how green
it is here."



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of West Reading Avenues Fall 2017

West Reading Avenues Fall 2017 - 1
West Reading Avenues Fall 2017 - 2
West Reading Avenues Fall 2017 - 3
West Reading Avenues Fall 2017 - 4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesWinter2021-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesSpring2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesWinter2020-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesFall2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WRASpring2020
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesDecember2019
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesNovember18
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesSeptember2018
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesJune2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesSpring2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesWinter2017-2
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/WestReadingAvenuesFall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/WestReadingAvenues/Summer2017
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