Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Held at Allstate Office in Malden

Mayor Gary Christenson joined a handful of agents at the Allstate office on Commercial Street for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon in Malden.

Sharlene Wulleman, co-owner of the 1,600-square-foot Allstate office at 146 Commercial St., discussed finding the right location in the city.

"We had looked at a couple of locations in Malden, but this one jumped out to us because of the traffic that comes into the strip mall, the location of the parking and it's very convenient and close to the T as well," said Wulleman, a North Reading resident who has worked in the insurance industry for 16 years.

The ceremony was held at 1 p.m. in front of the Allstate office, which opened May 1. The Malden office is the fifth Allstate location to open in Massachusetts, according to Wulleman.

Since opening their doors to customers, "business has been wonderful," Wulleman said.

"We've been very competitive with the rates, and it has been interesting to see coming from an independent background we had several (insurance) carriers to choose from and Allstate was one company, one brand so it was interesting to see how competitive we would be coming to the state," Wulleman said. "Next year we will be offering homeowners products on Allstate paper because right now we broker that out so we're excited for the changes that are about to come."

In the future, Wulleman has high hopes for the business in Malden.

"We hope to be recognized in the community by families, schools and people moving into the area," she said. "We just want to be a well -known brand and a well-known name in the community."

The office has five employees, including three customer service agents and two salespeople, according to Wulleman.

Moments after the ceremony, Paul Koltsios, co-owner of the Allstate office with Wulleman, received an unexpected business opportunity.

"We actually had (actor) Dan Aykroyd's assistant call while he is in Boston purchasing a car," Koltsios said. "He is looking to do a policy with us so she is just getting all the information to do a quote and set up a policy for Mr. Aykroyd."

For more information, call the Allstate office in Malden at 781-605-2629.