Category Archives: New Businesses

By Susan Elise Campbell
Malta Farm and Garden, at 2712 Route 9, is now open to shop for farm, garden and pet supplies.
It is the latest of five stores owned by the Millerton Co-op, a group of farmers who have been supporting each other as an enterprise since the 1940s, according to the store’s general manager Paul O’Neil.
The Malta store is the co-op’s northernmost location, O’Neil said. It opened in early October.
“We were bringing four boxloads a week up from the Chatham store an hour away and getting many referrals,” he said. “So we wanted to plant our flag up here and build a retail store to better serve our customers.”
There are five full-time staff working in the warehouse and showroom, plus four part-timers.
O’Neil said Malta “is a great growing town with plenty of room” and the intersection at Route 9 and East High Street was just right for 20,000 square feet of new construction.

By Jill Nagy
“The end of the riding season is not the most appropriate time to open a motorcycle shop,” said Roger Goldsmith, who opened the Saratoga Motorcycle Center at 4284 Route 50 in Wilton in September.
Like so many other businesses, the opening of this one was delayed by the pandemic-related shutdown. It was to open in the spring, but Goldsmith moved ahead even as autumn approached.
Goldsmith owned the Crafters Gallery in downtown Saratoga Springs for 24 years, selling it in 2017.
“I’ve always been a motorcycle enthusiastic and wanted to do something like this,” he said.
He purchased a vacant lot and had a 5.000-square-foot building designed and built by JAG Construction, specifically for his purpose. The motorcycle shop occupies 3,000 square feet and the rest is available for lease.

By Jill Nagy
After a series of delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Darling Doughnuts opened at 441 Broadway in Saratoga Springs at the end of July.
Natascha Pearl-Mansman, co-owner of the shop, said they have been making and selling 1,000 doughnuts a day.
“We no longer sell out by 11 a.m. but business is really steady,” she said.
The owners signed the lease for the shop in November 2019, but ran into “a lot of hurdles.”
Just as construction got underway and the owners were starting to hire staff, the state-ordered shutdown was imposed. Even after things eased up, only one person at a time could work in the building—and it was usually Glenn Severance, Pearl-Mansman’s business partner.
Work was completed just before Pearl-Mansman’s second daughter, Georgia, was born.
“I never anticipated opening a storefront during a pandemic, let alone while nearly nine months pregnant, but here we are,” she said.
Darling Doughnuts are made from a yeast-based dough that ferments for 15 hours before it is ready. It is a long, slow fermentation, she explained, like sourdough but without a sourdough taste.
The doughnuts are made with fresh natural ingredients sourced within 100 miles of the shop and flavored with “real things.” The yeast dough gives a better texture, making a “very fluffy” doughnut, Pearl-Mansman said.

Your CBD Store celebrated the opening of its Clifton Park store on Oct. 8.
According to the company, in less than two years, Your CBD Stores has grown with over 600 locations in 40 states. Founded with an emphasis on education and community, Your CBD Store is a member of the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce.
The store is located at 22 Clifton Country Road, Suite 140 in Clifton Park. It is locally owned and is managed by Jennifer Modaffari.
She said she looks forward to helping the community of Clifton park and beyond by educating them on the benefits of using high quality CBD products.
“We are a comfortable, high-quality learning environment where customers can try our products and leave knowing exactly what is in our CBD products,” Modaffari said. “We just released a line of USDA-certified, organic CBD products and we are so excited to share them with everyone,.”
“We are not just another retail chain. We are a large family of store owners who truly care about educating and improving the quality of life in communities around the nation using high quality CBD ,” she added.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
McCarthy’s Zark’s Angels Hair Salon owner Shelly Squires is feeling good about her new space and her working partner—her daughter.
With a recent move to new space within the same building, she said she feels positive about where her business is going.
The business is located at 118 Broad St., Schuylerville.
“Honestly, we feel like we are in heaven right now. We are content and happy with the changes that we made with the move, and of course I have my rock star daughter, Erica, to work with,” said Squires.
The Schuylerville salon had to close in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she and Erica had to split shifts when they tried to reopen in order to operate safely. It was difficult for them to work apart in the old space.

By Jill Nagy
After four years of building a customer base through sales online, at seven area farmers’ markets and some 80 regional specialty stores, Allison Rose has opened her own retail shop, Saratoga Chocolate Co., in the Saratoga Marketplace on Broadway in Saratoga Springs.
The shop, which opened July 31, sells gourmet handmade chocolates and other sweets. “We make everything that we sell at the store,” she said.
Rose started in 2003 when she began making chocolate truffles as holiday treats for friends. She has since branched out into other chocolate confections and prides herself on balancing the right ingredients with the right chocolate.

By Susan Elise Campbell
TOGA HERITAGE, a gift and home goods store that celebrates the history and spirit of Saratoga Springs, has moved to the “dream location” of owner Deborah DePasquale at 322 Broadway next to Congress Park.
Dreaming about it had little to do with the success of the transition. Good business planning did. Not only did DePasquale stick to her timeline of moving into a larger location right after her third year in business, but she did it at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were ready to move a year ago, but it took that long to find the right spot,” she said. “The goal was to buy something unique and possibly historic, and this was one of our top three desired locations.”
The building goes back to 1884 and was once home to Congress Theatre. The space opened up when the previous retailer, Hatsational, left the space to consolidate with another of its downtown locations.
DePasquale said the previous owner renovated the entire building interior in 2016.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
Opening a business during a pandemic could be risky business for most, but Kelly’s Kitchen owner Kelly Groff said not even a pandemic can stop a sweet tooth.
This bakery owner is not only selling her baked goods at a steady rate in her new Wilton location, she says she is selling out on a daily basis.
“I’ve only been open a few weeks now but continue to meet new customers every day. Word of mouth has been my absolute best advertisement so far,” said Groff.
Kelly’s Kitchen opened in August at its 4300 Route 50 location, and business is booming. She had been baking and selling treats from her home, growing her business at such a fast pace that she knew it was time to bring it to a new location. The bakery is stocked with cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pastries and all types of desserts.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
Many businesses, both large and small, need customer feedback to be successful.
In response to the need, Insightpath LLC, was cofounded by Terry Nawrot, CEO, and Joe Tyler, CTO. The Saratoga company has developed a system for businesses to gather feedback from their customers in an organized and efficient way that will allow for improved customer satisfaction.
Nawrot said in her experience running a business, she found that she needed something that would collect and organize feedback from both customers and employees through live interviews. She and Tyler worked hard to develop a product that efficiently takes customer feedback and turns it into information that can aid businesses in various ways.