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Officials with the Saranac Lake
Community Store are cautiously optimistic that a community-owned
retail store will open for business at the beginning of next summer.
Melinda Little is the interim
president of the Community Store’s board of directors.
“Having successfully
completed a $5,000 matching challenge in less than a month, the
Community Store is now only $37,800 away from reaching its objective
of $500,000 in initial equity capital,” she said in a prepared
statement.
“We will continue to
push toward our goal over the coming weeks and are planning, among
other things, a holiday open house for the weekend of Dec. 4 for
those who want to purchase shares as holiday gifts for their loved
ones,” she added.
Little told WNBZ that
the board of directors hopes to finish fundraising by the end of
December.
“In a perfect world,
it would be by the third week of December – and I’m cautiously
optimistic about that – but I actually think, more realistically,
more like January and February with the idea of opening the store by
the early part of the summer,” she said.
Up to this point,
store organizers have been hesitant to discuss possible locations
for the retail outfit. But this week, board member Alan Brown tagged
94 Main Street – formerly Corvo’s Restaurant – as a hopeful
location.
Brown says that with
approximately 5,000 square feet, the building is ideally suited both
in size and location.
“We are extremely
excited that this opportunity has opened up and are going to do
everything we can to reach our goal as quickly as possible so that
we can sign a lease and make this dream a reality,” he said.
Little notes that the
store’s location is dependent on available real estate – when the
store reaches its capital goal.
“Some locations that
we’ve talked about over the years have actually been leased to other
companies, which is great, because the more spaces filled, the
better for Saranac Lake,” she said.
The former Corvo’s
Restaurant just went on the market, after being purchased by Greg
Moore, owner of Bear Essentials.
Little says Moore
approached Community Store organizers about leasing the space.
“It’s the perfect
space, square footage wise,” she said. “We’re very excited about
being there, given the location – you couldn’t be more perfectly
placed, it’s right in the heart of downtown. We’re in conversations
with Greg, and a lot will depend on everything falling into place on
our end. He can’t wait forever for us to reach our goal; so we’re
going to push, push, push to reach our goal as soon as possible.”
Board members also
announced this week they will begin accepting resumes for key
positions at the store.
“We’re close,” Little
said. “So now is the time to start talking about job openings.”
The store is
currently seeking applications for manager and assistant manager.
-Chris Morris,
10-26-10
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