The Community Store Project of Saranac Lake, New York

Posted on: May 1, 2008

SARANAC LAKE — To date, more than 300 people from more than 30 communities throughout New York state have already invested in the Community Store. Are you one of them?

Several years have passed without a department store in Saranac Lake. Ames closed in 2002, Newberry’s before that. Today, with rising gas prices, many residents find themselves traveling to Plattsburgh or Malone for basic needs like office supplies, sewing notions and clothing.

It is almost two years ago since Sharon Earhart from Powell, Wyoming’s chamber of commerce spoke in Saranac Lake about the successes of its Merc to a packed audience of 250 people. I was one of those who attended that forum on a rainy June day at the Harrietstown Town Hall. At the end of the meeting, we were asked who would buy $500 worth of shares in such a project in our town. Almost every hand went up.

The Community Store Project is a response to this need. The 6,000-square-foot store would carry staples like clothes, basics, towels, linens, baby goods and craft supplies that we all need. Because it will be owned by local shareholders, it will be sensitive to the desires of the community and responsive to the customer’s needs.

A community store is not a cooperative, or a store run by a commune. Rather, it is a capitalistic enterprise, financed by shares of stock sold mainly to local residents. A broad base of local ownership ensures accountability, guaranteeing the store will always be a vital part of the community. The limitation on the number of shares that any one individual can buy prevents a few shareholders from owning the store, making the decisions and possibly selling out to a chain in the future.

The community store movement is taking hold in small towns all over this great land. From Belfast, Maine to Plentywood, Montana, communities are trying to hang on to their identity. They are rising up against the monotony of chain stores, chain restaurants and strip malls spreading through our land, replacing individual character with a homogeneous landscape and sucking life out of small communities.

Here in Saranac Lake we are forging ahead in spite of a crumpling national economy. We are fortunate to live in a place with natural beauty, unique character and cooperative spirit. In this small community, we have people who make things happen by participating in village and area events from Winter Carnival to First Night, from the ice fishing derby in March to art gallery walks in the summer. This web of support and interconnectivity is what makes Saranac Lake such an amazing place to live. We have come a long way, baby — but we still have a ways to go!

Anyone who really wants a new department store in Saranac Lake should be willing to seriously consider investing in this project. Recently both parties in Congress passed an economic stimulus package to increase the cash flow into our economy. The government is giving us gift certificates to spend at the mall — how about investing yours in the community store?

Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear, writes a weekly cooking column for the Enterprise and is the author of “Employment for Individuals with Asperger Syndrome or Non-Verbal Learning Disability: Stories and Strategies” (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004).