Month: March 2016

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Country Corner Café on Church Street in Saratoga Springs is celebrating its 25th year, and owner Roseann Hotaling couldn’t be happier with the business she has created.

In 1991, she opened the 19-seat café, catering to the early morning working crowd. The mother of a three-year old and a kindergartener, Hotaling managed to arrive at the café by 5 a.m. and open the doors for business at 6 a.m. By 8 a.m., she would change and head over to her full-time job as director of food service for the Saratoga Springs City School District.

This routine lasted for 14 years, and in 2005 Hotaling made the decision to leave the school district and devote her energy full-time to the café. She opened a second location on High Rock Avenue in Saratoga Springs.

Two and a half years after opening the High Rock location, Hotaling was offered the opportunity to expand the Church Street location and jumped at the chance. The additional space tripled the seating capacity. For the next couple of years, she was, in effect, running three businesses–the original café, the expanded dining room next door, and the High Rock location.

Although the High Rock café was equally successful, “things just got too crazy,” said Hotaling. When the lease expired there, she did not renew. She focused on the expanded Church Street business.

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Kimberly Harbour knows that, regardless of the type of business you own, an understanding of how business works is vital to success.

With B. Couture Fashions in Ballston Lake, Harbour has combined her business and marketing expertise with her love of fashion to create a successful retail company.

B. Couture Fashions carries Carlisle-Etcetera, an exclusive luxury line of clothing and accessories catering to the busy woman who needs to keep current with her wardrobe, but who doesn’t have the time or the inclination to go from department store to department store in search of items that fit and look great.

Harbour, who has a degree in business and marketing from Skidmore College, began her career in retail, and later opened her own public relations firm. She was a longtime client of B. Couture before she was approached by the former owner to purchase the business.

She took over in January 2014 and has been doing great ever since. B. Couture already had a loyal following and Harbour continues to attract new customers. Her marketing and PR skills have been a huge help to her in her efforts, but her biggest challenge is getting people to make that initial appointment.

Vicki Ure, an interior decorator for 25 years, opened her first Victoria’s Corner shop in Malta. Now she owns and operates three such shops, in Clifton Park, Ballston Spa and Glens Falls.©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Vicki Ure has been an interior decorator for 25 years, originally occupying space in Malta Commons, but thirteen years ago she moved to the mall in Clifton Park.

Her professional reputation and the popularity of her Victoria’s Corner shop increased rapidly, prompting expansion to a second studio at 20 Learned St. in Albany in March 2015.

Last July, she opened a third studio in Glens Falls.

The Glens Falls Shirt Factory, 71 Lawrence St., Glens Falls, is home to the latest expansion of Victoria’s Corner.

In 2003, Ure left the mall and worked out of her home for about seven years in order to raise her family and care for her mother.

In 2013, She decided to open Victoria’s Corner at 252 Milton Ave. in Ballston Spa. It proved to be an ideal location for Ure, especially since her services have expanded to include reviving and re-purposing old and heirloom furnishings and accessories. Ballston Spa is a popular destination for antiques and antiques lovers.

Ure offers a complete menu of design and interior decorating services at all of her locations, including custom window treatments, upholstery and slipcovers, as well as refurbishing, reviving, and reinventing old furniture, lamps, dishware, and other decorative accessories.