Plattsburgh Press Republican:
Published July 24, 2007 10:00 pm - Saranac Lake Community Store Inc. initates public offering of share for proposed department store.

EDITORIAL: Saranac Lakers want to create their own retail store

What happens when community residents can't attract a name-brand department store to their locale? They create their own.

To their credit, that's exactly what residents in Saranac Lake have done.

Last week, the Board of Directors for Saranac Lake Community Store Inc. launched the initial public offering of shares for the proposed store at $100 each. The board needs to sell 5,000 shares in a six-month time frame in order to chase the dream.

The store would be owned by the shareholders and by managed by a board of directors. Share ownership wouldn't be required to shop there.

The goal of the store is to provide affordable goods and basic staples that can't readily be found in the Saranac Lake area. Items such as clothing, linens, sewing materials, crafts, shoes and baby goods would be offered. Shoppers would be encouraged to request items that could be added to the store's inventory.

The absence of a retail clothing and general merchandise store in Saranac Lake has been a volatile issue. When Ames Department Store closed in 2002, the retail void was created. Since then, attempts by local leaders to lure a similar retailer to the area have been largely unsuccessful.

They've been close, though. In 2006, Wal-Mart intended to build a 121,000-square-foot Supercenter near the village entrance on Lake Flower Avenue. The retail giant pulled the plug on the proposal after the Village Board failed to rezone the property "" a 10.8-acre village-owned parcel "" from residential to commercial. There was strong support "" pro and con "" surrounding the Wal-Mart deal.

By coincidence, while Wal-Mart was walking away, organizers of the community-owned department store were meeting to discern if there was any interest in their idea. More than 200 people showed up at that initial meeting and the idea took on a life of its own.

Although an exact location hasn't been revealed, the community-store proposal calls for initially leasing a space with a minimum of 5,000 square feet, expanding later if necessary. It would employ between six and eight people, including a manager, purchaser and a part-time and full-time sales crew. The store could be open by next spring.

It's an innovative retail approach. The concept for a community store came from The Merc, a community-owned store in Powell, Wyo. Similar efforts are ongoing throughout the Northeast, including Greenfield, Mass. The Saranac Lake project would be the first of its kind in New York state, we're told.

Our hats are off to the Saranac Lake community, which has shown the North Country what you can do when you put your collective minds to it.

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