Best Products went out of business three decades ago, and its headquarters building has long been vacant. But this morning, dozens of former employees joined Henrico County officials, neighbors and other guests at Best Plaza to honor the national retail chain and its founders – the late Sydney and Frances Lewis – as well as to celebrate what’s to come.
The event offered a poignant farewell to the two-story office building, which is set to be cleared for a large, mixed-use redevelopment project known as Best Products Reimagined.
As they arrived, the former coworkers hugged, reminisced and snapped photos together. They later took a final tour, taking pictures of the lobby, hallways, cafeteria and a miniature model of the building. As a memento, each guest was given a piece of Best Plaza’s interior wood paneling engraved with “Best Products Reimagined,” the date and one of the iconic eagles.
The joyful gathering “after all these years is a testament to Best as an incredible corporate citizen and as a trailblazer in retail service,” Board of Supervisors Chair Roscoe D. Cooper III told the nearly 200-person crowd, which included the Lewises’ daughter, Susan Butler, and her husband, Dixon. “The pride that you show in your company is matched only by the wonderful, marvelous memories you have working here at Best Plaza in Henrico County. We greatly appreciate and respect that and thank you for sharing with us.”
Like Best’s showrooms across the country, the headquarters served as a showcase for the Lewises’ deep affection for modern, thought-provoking art. Best Plaza features a distinctive curved wall of green glass and a pair of giant Art Deco eagle sculptures at its main entrance. The sculptures are expected to be preserved either onsite as part of the new development or elsewhere.
In remarks to the audience, retired Best Products executive Wayne Tennent recalled the company’s humble origins in Ashland, move to Best Plaza and rise to a national retail chain with $2 billion in annual sales and 20,000 employees for the holiday shopping season. Like so many others, he relished the building’s quirks.
“Remember the elevator had buttons for four floors,” he said. “We only had two [floors], but it came out of a hotel in New York, and it was fun to watch people get in the elevator and panic on what buttons to push. We had art everywhere in the building. It was literally like working at a museum.”
He recalled a shareholder meeting in which Sydney Lewis was challenged to justify the additional costs of designing and building stores with so many artistic elements.
“Mr. Lewis says, ‘I don’t know much about marketing, but in last count, there have been over 300 TV spots, [and] newspaper, magazine articles about Best’s unique buildings. Didn’t cost us anything. I’d say that’s pretty cheap advertising, would you?,'” he said. “And that shut him up.”
Looking ahead to the site’s redevelopment, Tennent said he hopes “Best Products Reimagined can continue some of that uniqueness …. We thank you for having us here today, and we look forward to what becomes of this memory that we all share and cherish.”
The Henrico Economic Development Authority and the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority are working to identify partners for the 93-acre redevelopment after issuing a “request for interest” procurement last May.
“The conversations have centered around bold ideas and forward-thinking plans to establish this site as a true gateway to Henrico and our region, to fill a void in our community with an arena that becomes the center for entertainment and serves as the heart of the many sports tourism assets already surrounding it,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Sports & Entertainment Authority.
As they’ve toured arenas across the country, project officials have noticed how many use art and storytelling in murals and other displays to showcase their communities and their histories.
With that in mind, Henrico will preserve some of the green glass blocks from Best Plaza to tell its story in the future, Bickmeier said. Glass blocks also will be used to create a LOVE sign that will be displayed in Henrico’s sports tourism district “as a lasting tribute to the Best Products building and the legacy it leaves behind,” he said.
“Projects like this do not happen by accident,” Bickmeier added. “They happen when people are willing to dream boldly, work together and believe that what comes next can be even greater than what came before. As the Lewis family once did, we are choosing to imagine something bigger. And together, we have the opportunity to create something truly extraordinary.”
EDA Executive Director Cari Tretina agreed. “We’re ready to move quickly, and we’re ready to move alongside partners who see the same thing as we do: opportunity,” she said. “Because the future of this site isn’t what will be built here. It’s unlocking an economic development center that our region hasn’t seen, and so it’s going to benefit [us] for generations to come. And, just like the Lewises, we believe that the absolute best is possible here. So, today we mark forward to the best of Henrico for tomorrow.”
