The Community Store in Saranac Lake opens

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October 29, 2011

KIM SMITH DEDAM Press-Republican The Press Republican Sat Oct 29, 2011, 03:28 AM EDT

SARANAC LAKE — After five years of raising capital, the Community Store opens for shoppers today.

A summer's worth of renovations made way for merchandise in the store's front rooms.

"We're doing last-minute tweaks; we're very excited," co-founder Melinda Little said Friday morning.

"It looks great in here."

Gail Brill, co-founder and a member of the organizing committee, said the store would open in two phases.

"We're actually opening the front half of the store on Saturday," she said.

"We've got our inventory out. We've got the walls painted and the carpet down, and everybody that stops in is completely blown away."

Clothing for men, women and children, shoes, craft items and sewing notions, bedding and a wide selection of baby and utilitarian items — such as cloth diapers — are in place on racks and shelves.

The rear section of the store is nearing retrofit completion and scheduled to open with a celebration on Nov. 19, Brill said.

MOSTLY US MADE

Community-owned stores base shareholder and buying decisions on local supply to meet demand.

"This is the first community-owned department store in New York state, and is a great example of small-town USA taking its destiny into its own hands," the store's founders said in an effervescent news release.

The primary goal in buying and selling is "to maintain and strengthen the traditional character of downtown retailing."

The Community Store in Saranac Lake developed from a core interest in community.

Shares purchased in the past several years provided the investment capital used to buy and market general merchandise based on the needs of local shoppers.

The store's Board of Directors raised more than $500,000 and hired three employees so far: General Manager Craig Waters and Assistant Managers Stephanie DeJoseph and Myrdden Roddy.

The store's board focused buying primarily on goods made in America to fill 3,000 square feet of sales space.

RIBBON CUTTING

Nurturing the idea from concept into reality took commitment from 600 investors, Brill said, and many volunteers who put in countless hours retrofitting the former Corvo's Restaurant space into a retail operation.

"We have had an amazing response from the community. The community really wants this store," Brill said.

The Community Store in Saranac Lake opens at 9 a.m. today, and the ribbon-cutting celebration starts at 10 a.m.

The new department store is located at 97 Main St. between the Berkeley Green and the Saranac Lake Free Library. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

Those hours will expand when the store opens fully on Nov. 19.

Email Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com