The Citizen staff report

Industrial cleaning and safety equipment is out. Heavy metal music is in.

Magic Circle Productions, the record company started by bassist Joey DeMaio of the heavy metal band Manowar, has purchased the former Julius Kraft building on Pulaski Street in Auburn for $300,000, said Bouck Real Estate President John Bouck, who brokered the sale.

The sale of the 17,500-square-foot building marks the final chapter in the long history of Julius Kraft, a distributor of industrial cleaning and safety equipment that had operated in Auburn for nearly 150 years before closing last year.

"It was unfortunate that a long-term, family company such as Julius Kraft was obliged to close because of the difficult marketplace, both locally and nationally," Bouck said. "The firm was well-managed, and has been a fixture in our community for many years."

Julius Kraft was a fifth-generation, family-owned business, started by Simon Vorreuter in 1868.

Magic Circle is planning improvements to the property, and it will employ a substantial number of people, though at this point the space is more than the business needs, Bouck said.

Read the full report in Saturday's edition of The Citizen.