By Christine Graf 

The Fingerpaint office building at 395 Broadway in Saratoga Springs has been sold for $11 million to Robert Moser of Prime Group Holdings. 

A private equity and real estate company, Prime Group Holdings has an office at 85 Railroad Place.

Fingerpaint Group, a pharmaceutical marketing company, now leases space at 18 Division St. The company was headquartered at 395 Broadway for 10 years, and company founder Ed Mitzen purchased the building five years ago for $9 million. 

“When we moved into the building it had been vacant for a year-and-a-half because Borders (book store) went out of business,” said Mitzen. “It was a great home for us for 10 years. We loved being there. I think it’s the best location in all of Saratoga.”

At the height of the COVID pandemic, the building sat empty while Fingerpaint’s 150 employees worked remotely. 

“I was the biggest anti-work-from-home guy on the planet,” said Mitzen. “I was incredibly surprised to see how productive everybody was.”

When non-essential employees were permitted to return to work, Mitzen surveyed his staff, asking them if they preferred to remain working from home.

The Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association has begun preparations for its 21st annual The Way We Were car show taking place Sunday, Oct. 8, on Front Street in Ballston Spa.

The event typically draws over 400 show cars and organizers are anticipating a large turnout after the massive success of last year’s show. 

The event is free to spectators. A rain date is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 15. 

In addition to all the cars and trucks, there will be food and merchandise vendors, a kid’s zone with a bounce house and other activities, live music, and a trophy presentation at the end of the day.

“We are really excited for this year’s show,” said Christine Kernochan, car show committee chairperson. “It’s always a great event that brings people downtown to support our businesses. It’s an important fundraiser to support the excellent work that the Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association does. We’re doing our very best to make this one as special as our previous 20 car shows.”

Pre-registration for show cars is now open by visiting www.ballston.org. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Linda Gerace-Skinner, formerly of LGS Interior Design Group, is evolving her business designing luxury homes and commercial spaces into an open workshop concept that she believes is unique to the region and will benefit both her design team and clients. 

Her Saratoga-based company is Interior Designs Atelier and in this new iteration she is replicating the larger and highly collaborative design studio she worked at for eight years in Minnesota.

“Atelier is French for workshop or studio, and it is my experience in an open workshop system that I have brought back home to Saratoga,” said Gerace-Skinner. “My goal is to spark creativity, because when designers work together in one room we feed off each other’s ideas.” 

She said that as reps came into the studio with their samples and the design team had “lunch and learns,” there was “a fabulous collaboration that made each one of us better designers. The benefit for clients is that you are always bringing the best to the table, and as a designer you get even better that way.” 

“A collaboration of other ideas and solutions builds a better project, although I don’t talk through every project as I might with my cabinetmaker or custom contractor,” she said.

by ann donnelly

This summer, husband and wife Doug Dockendorf and Shelly Walker expanded their shop and cafe in Malta by offering gourmet chocolates and fudge and further enhancing the adjacent outside area, Collamer Park.

In 2020, the couple purchased the Wiggins-Collamer House, which was built in 1835 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. After renovations, the building became the new location of Finishing Touches, where Walker, an interior designer, runs her business and sells furnishings, home decor, gifts, and accessories.

Within the first year, they added two new businesses at the location. They started with a small selection of ice cream, which proved popular, so they expanded as Cookies & Cream and Finishing Touches, with a full range of soft serve and hard ice cream in cones, dishes, sundaes, shakes and more.

Then they opened The Coffee Bar with coffee, lattes, espressos, cappuccino, and locally made baked goods from The Sugar Fairy Bakes.

By Christine Graf

After investing approximately $1.4 million in upgrades and renovations, the owners of the Best Western Plus in Saratoga Springs have rebranded the 3292 Route 9 property as The Hotel Saratoga. 

The hotel is owned by Pinecone Holdings, a Missouri-based real estate investment and management firm. Pinecone CEO Thane Kifer and managing director Drew Kifer own several other hotels throughout the country. 

Woodbury-based WNW Hospitality manages day-to-day operations at The Hotel Saratoga. The company was hired to oversee operations of the Best Western Plus after the property was purchased by Pinecone Holdings in August 2019.

According to WNW president and co-owner Robert Jaeger, rebranding discussions began just a few months later.

“The Best Western Plus is a nice mid-level brand, but at the beginning of 2020, we thought it was a good idea to bring the hotel into more of an upscale lifestyle brand. Those plans were put on hold due to the pandemic,” he said.

By Christine Graf 

Greenfield residents Steve and Katie Kissinger have opened 30 Minute Hit, a women’s only kickboxing fitness studio at 3 Hampstead Place, Suite 104A, in Saratoga Springs. 

Founded in 2004, 30 Minute Hit has approximately 100 locations throughout Canada and the United States. The couple made the decision to become franchisees after working with a business coach. 

“She introduced us to several difference businesses, and I spent the better part of six months going through the discovery process on each,” said Steve Kissinger. “This was the one we landed on for many different reasons. We saw a gap in the market in Saratoga and the Capital Region in general for something like this.”

In addition to owning the fitness studio, Katie works as a nurse practitioner and Steve works in the energy sector. He is also a certified trainer at 30 Minute Hit. 

According to Kissinger, “30 Minute Hit is a kickboxing, self-defense-inspired, circuit workout. It’s a high-intensity interval workout that only takes 30 minutes. Each station has a different type of boxing or self-defense exercise.”

Visitors to Saratoga Race Course this season may have noticed a new statue in front of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Union Avenue.

Churchill Downs Inc. donated “Against All Odds,” an inspiring bronze statue by Edwin Bogucki, as part of the museum’s permanent collection. 

“Against All Odds” depicts the photo finish victory of Hall of Fame horse John Henry with Hall of Fame jockey William Shoemaker in the irons as they ran down The Bart in the shadow of the wire in the running of the inaugural Arlington Million on Aug. 30, 1981, the first thoroughbred race to boast a purse of $1 million. 

Under the guidance of Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally, John Henry captured a second Arlington Million as a 9-year-old in 1984 and was ultimately selected as Horse of the Year following both victories. The statue was originally unveiled in 1989 at Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, Illinois. 

“It is a great honor to make this gift to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in memory of the late Richard Duchossois, where it will be prominently displayed and enjoyed by racing fans for many years to come,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “Much like Mr. Duchossois, ‘Against All Odds’ represents perseverance. May it serve as an inspiration to horses and humans alike that with courage and determination, what seems impossible can be achieved.”