STARKVILLE – When Glo Companies moved into the old Rex Theatre at 101 W. Main St. in 2021, CEO and co-founder Hagan Walker remembers wondering how the company would ever fill the entire space.
Five years later, and now a decade since the company started, Glo has outgrown the space that once seemed more than enough and is set to relocate operations to the former Rick’s Furniture Market on Stark Road.
“I think there’s an old video … where I talk about how much space we have and how we don’t know what we’re going to do with it all,” Walker told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “… It’s just funny to kind of look back and realize that we need to grow again.”
Glo has used a portion of the Stark Road property for warehousing and distribution since 2018. When the city adopted its Unified Development Code a year later, zoning no longer allowed that as a permitted use, meaning Glo must get a special exception at the property each time it expands its operations there.
The board of aldermen granted that exception after a public hearing Tuesday evening.
Along with expanding warehouse operations and moving headquarters to the building, Jeffrey Rupp, vice president of business development for Glo, said the move also gives the company a chance to improve the property.
“Our plans are to build kind of a campus,” Rupp told The Dispatch. “There will be some neat signage. We’ll have a little dog park there because everybody brings their dogs to work here. We really hope to really improve the look of Stark Road as well.”
Renderings of the future property show improvements to the exterior of the warehouse and the smaller two-story building that will be used for office space and, potentially, as a storefront where shoppers can purchase Glo products, Rupp said.
Rupp expects the transition will take “well into the summer.”
Walker said the goal of the campus is to create a culture where employees feel welcome and supported.
“They can bring their pets, but it extends past that,” Walker said. “We have some team members that sometimes even bring their children up to work, so we just want it to be an inclusive place.”
While it’s “not always the easiest thing” to keep expanding in Starkville, especially when other markets might offer easier travel access for remote employees spanning states, Walker said it is important for the company to continue investing locally.
“… This is a neglected building that needs love, and we’re a local business that, we think, can provide that,” he said. “Again it’s just like Starkville had what we needed. We’re able to work together for round two, just like we did with a defunct, old theater. We’re going to revitalize a defunct, old furniture store, and I think that’s really cool to be able to work with the city on that.”
What’s next for the Rex?
Glo moved to the former Rex Theatre in 2021, after the property underwent a $1.2 million renovation through a partnership between the company, Castle Properties and the Starkville Masonic Lodge, which owns the building.
In the years since, Walker said the property has served the company well.
“I think the time here has been great,” he said. “It’s allowed us to kind of be an anchor on this side of Main Street, which is cool. That wasn’t necessarily the purpose, but we really did want to save an old building downtown and repurpose it.”
With Glo set to be out by the end of summer, the future of the Rex is open-ended, though Walker said he’d love to see the building used for something more “public-facing.”
“I know that’s a little hypocritical since we’ve been a private business here, but it would be so nice, with the renovations outside and stuff, to have a restaurant,” he said. “At the very least if not that, a retail (space), but I think a restaurant could be really, really cool.”
While no definitive plans have been made for the theater, Mark Castleberry, owner of Castle Properties, said he also hopes the property will have a more public-facing purpose.
“We’ve got one restaurant that is showing some interest that could be a real home run,” he said. “… We’ve reached out to some concepts we feel would be appropriate for there, but at this time, nothing definitive.”
Floating another potential idea, Rupp said the theater would make for a great venue. And if by chance it becomes one, he has someone in mind for the first act.
“Well, given my background and my hobby, I think it’d be a great place for live acoustic music featuring old guys that play (music from the) 70s,” said Rupp, who frequently plays local gigs both solo and with other musicians.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
