Dalton Rudd, owner of Workbench RVA, works in the Class of 2021 graduate workshop on Arthur Ashe Boulevard. ( BizSense file )
A local wood shop has found a new home on Arthur Ashe Boulevard after closing last summer.
Workbench RVA is now located in a new 2,900 square foot location at 3310 Rosedale Ave. running The new location is about a mile from where the store opened two years ago.
Member-based company provides workspace and tools for woodworking projects. The workbench offers, among other things, two professional table saws, drills, tires, a 20-inch spiral head saw, various fasteners, a laser cutter and a drum sander.
Monthly subscriptions for Workbench range from $139 to $169, according to the company's website. A safety course is required before a person can use the workshop. Workbench also offers courses for adults and children.
Despite the location change, owner Dalton Rudd said his concept is largely the same as what he offered in the previous space. Membership provides access to the shop and its equipment, but wood is an additional cost that members can purchase from the Workbench sales hall.
Rudd said he struggled to find commercial space that fit his budget and fit his concept after moving from 1105 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., where Workbench first opened its doors in November 2021. This location is currently used by the Westwood Athletics Gymnasium.
"Since the old lease on the (Arthur Ash) building has expired, I'm trying to find a new location as quickly as possible," Rudd said. "In today's market, commercial real estate moves from left to right in the blink of an eye."
Workbench will open in a two-building complex on Rosedale Avenue that it shares with Black Swan Books and others. Rudd says his space was previously used by a general contractor and previously housed an on-site service facility for electric scooter company Bolt.
This time, Rudd wants to encourage members to sign up for annual memberships instead of monthly plans. And while he doesn't have a strict membership count in mind, he hopes to be more selective about store memberships than Arthur Ash.
He hopes this will allow him to create a more permanent membership that will foster the sense of company he wants.
"I've had a lot of members that I appreciate, but maybe this time we'll focus on long-term membership and bring those types of members together," Rudd said. He said the old site had 85 members at the time of the shutdown.
Rudd came up with the idea for Workbench while working at Sibley Custom Cabinetry in Chesterfield while attending community college and Longwood University. Rudd graduated from Longwood in 2020 and focused on starting a business.
Workbench reopened this month and is planning a grand opening event on January 27th.
Rudd works as a high school shop teacher and said she has no plans to quit that job when Workbench reopens.
