copied from the Boston.com web site.

Isolated Adirondackers try to open own department store

By Michael Hill, Associated Press Writer | August 25, 2007

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. --Shops in this Adirondack village's tourist-friendly downtown sell twig chairs, hiking boots, handcrafted jewelry and decorative spoons with moose painted on them.

But, as the local joke goes, just try finding a place to buy underwear.

Lacking a big department store, Saranac Lake residents often drive more than 40 miles on mountain roads for heavy-duty shopping. So a local group is proposing a homegrown solution inspired by successful retail operations out West. They want to open a store owned by the community.

For $100 a share, people in this isolated area are being offered a chance to own a piece of their own mini-department store, the proposed Saranac Lake Community Store.

"Saranac Lake and, I think, the Adirondacks in general are known for their self-reliance. When we do a community store, we're saying that we're controlling our own economic destiny," said Annette Scheuer, who recently visited the store committee's sparse walk-up office with her husband to buy $500 worth of shares.

"It puts our future in our own hands instead of a corporation across the country."

Like the name implies, community stores are jointly owned by local shareholders, though anyone can shop there. Community stores are different from the more commonplace cooperatives or "co-ops," which offer lower prices to active members.

Saranac Lake, tucked between tree-covered mountains deep inside the Adirondack Park, is like a lot of the places that already host community stores. With a population of 4,900, it's small like Plentywood, Mont. (home of Little Muddy Dry Goods), Worland, Wyo. (Washakie Wear), and Ely, Nev. (Garnet Mercantile).

And like many of those rural places, Saranac Lake lost its chain store.

The Ames store here closed when the discount retailer went out of business in 2002. Ames was among a number of regional and national chains to disappear -- Bradlees, Caldor, Montgomery Ward were others -- in the past decade amid tougher competition from the likes of Wal-Mart, Target and online retailers.

"I would say there is a greater focus on profitability because the competition has gotten ... more fierce," said Patricia Edwards, a retail analyst for Wentworth, Hauser and Violich in Seattle.

Even without the Ames, Saranac Lake residents still had places to buy some clothes (including underwear) and household goods. They could also could find a bit more shopping selection 10 miles down the road in Lake Placid. But big expenditures such as back-to-school shopping generally require trips outside the Adirondacks to bigger stores in Malone or Plattsburgh.

Wal-Mart last year proposed to fill that retail gap with a 121,000-square-foot store outside the center of the village. Many locals welcomed the proposal, but others felt the size of the proposed store -- bigger than two football fields -- would clash with Saranac Lake's small-town charm. Unable to get needed zoning changes from the village amid vocal opposition, Wal-Mart shelved the plan later that year.

Opponents won the battle, but still lacked a department store. Then they began researching "the Merc" in Powell, Wyo.

The Powell Mercantile, opened in 2002, is a profitable community store that doubled its floor space last year to 14,000 square feet. Shoppers there can browse among baby clothes, jewelry, Levi's jeans, Haggar shirts and Woolrich sweaters.

"We're a complete, well-rounded, junior department store," said buyer Mike Reile.

Saranac Lake Community Store committee members believe they can be successful like the Merc. The plan is to build a 5,000-square-foot store, which would be bigger than a boutique but smaller than a box store. They say the store will keep local dollars tied to the area, be responsive to residents' needs and fit in with the community.

They join groups in other rural places in the East like Stafford, Conn., and Greenfield, Mass., trying to start their own community store.

"There's a real consciousness going on in the country that small towns really need to hold on to their uniqueness," said Saranac Lake committee member Gail Brill. "This is an alternative to opening the door to strip malls and big box stores and losing yourself into that consumer frenzy that's happening across the country."

The group is trying to sell $500,000 worth of shares by December, though they can extend that deadline. They have raised about $70,000, including two people who bought $10,000 worth of shares, the maximum allowed under their bylaws. Most of the sales are in the $100-to-$500 range.

Local support is not universal, especially since the recent Wal-Mart battle seems to have left a lingering class rift. Saranac Lake is both a town of gorgeous lakefront homes and a place were the median household income is around $35,000. Many supporters of the Wal-Mart nearby saw the opposition as the moneyed migrants. Now they see the same people supporting a community store.

"We call them treehuggers, but we don't want to offend anybody," said Laura Kunath, who said she only recently removed the pro-Wal-Mart sign from her lawn. Kunath is not against a community store, but doubts it will be affordable for working-class families.

Resident Al Greene was more harsh, calling the idea "a waste of time."

Supporters bristle at charges they're elitists and they insist that they should be able to stock items within reach of someone making $20,000 a year. With more community stores planned in the East, they hope to keep prices down through group buying.

But first they need to raise the money. Then they can rent space on a yet-to-be-settled location, hire a management team and staff, and stock a store.

They hope to open the store next spring

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On the Net:

http://www.community-store.org