PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
GBJ 9 Broad Street, #7 Glens Falls, NY 12801
VOL. 37 NO. 02
PAID
GLENS FALLS, NY 12801 PERMIT #600
HH The Business Newspaper of Warren and Washington Counties HH
www.glensfallsbusinessjournal.com
APRIL 2025
Romeo Auto Group Expands Into Saratoga Aviation Mall Employing Creative Solutions To Springs With Ford And Subaru Dealerships Counteract The Loss Of Stores And Shoppers
Romeo Auto Group has purchased Saratoga Ford and Saratoga Subaru, bringing its family-owned dealership network to Saratoga Springs. Courtesy Saratoga Business Journal
BY LEE COLEMAN The Romeo Auto Group has moved into the Saratoga Springs market with the purchase of Saratoga Subaru and Saratoga Ford, both located just off Northway Exit 15. “We are super excited to add Subaru to our dealerships,” said Mike Romeo, who will be dealer principal of the two dealerships purchased from the Mackey Auto Group on March 24. The transaction comes just three months after Romeo Auto Group bought Whiteman Chevrolet on Dix Avenue in Glens Falls, now called Romeo Chevrolet. The Romeo Auto Group has dealerships in Glens Falls, South Glens Falls and Queensbury as well as five dealerships in Kingston operated by Mike’s older brother Joe Romeo. Mike Romeo said the group currently has a Ford dealership in Kingston but did not have a Subaru
dealership. The auto group owns Romeo Toyota on Broad Street in Glens Falls, Carriage Traders on Saratoga Road in South Glens Falls, and the Romeo Auto Outlet on Quaker Road in Queensbury. “We want to build it back up to what it used to be,” Mike Romeo said about the Saratoga Springs car market. “We want to get involved in the community, do community (fund raising) events in Saratoga,” he said. In Glens Falls, for example, Romeo Toyota for several years has donated cars to Glens Falls Hospital and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Glens Falls for fund raising efforts. The Mackey Auto Group still owns a car dealership in Greenwich but is now focusing its efforts into boats and real estate, Romeo said. The two Exit 15 dealerships will be called Romeo Continued On Page 2
BY PAUL POST Aviation Mall is gearing up for a second half-century of business with a go-kart racing attraction for local families, summer vacationers and serious competitors alike. Scheduled to open Nov. 1, ADK Karting Experience is the newest in a series of sports, fitness and entertainment-type tenants, as the 50-year-old mall reinvents itself in the face of 21st-century consumer demands. “When you have a very large facility to maintain with costly utilities, insurance and the like, you have to take on opportunities that might not be traditional,” said James Griffith, mall general manager. “We’ve always looked at different uses for getting people in the shopping center because that’s how we’re measured by our tenants. They want to know, ‘What is your foot traffic?’” “We welcome anything, whenever we can justify that it brings more traffic,” he said. ADK Karting will occupy the 80,000-squarefoot former Sears space at the east end of the mall, near the Food Court. Aviation Mall was a major, region-wide retail shopping destination when it opened in October 1975 with JC Penney, still there, and Denby’s as anchors. Caldor and Sears joined not long afterward, but later closed in addition to The Bon-Ton, which replaced Caldor. Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet are anchors now along with JC Penney, but filling smaller spaces with retail tenants has been a challenge for malls across America, including this one. “You can’t run away from it, online buying is how people make their purchases now,” Griffith said. In response, the mall is now home to tenants such as Planet Fitness, The GYM, Adirondack Axe (for axe-throwers), The Body Barre: Dance & Fitness Studio and 518 Grapplers, a school for young wrestlers that occupies a former shoe store right outside the old Sears. And in winter, Glens Falls Farmer’s Market
Aviation Mall adds attractions like ADK Karting to boost traffic and revitalize its space. Courtesy Glens Falls Business Journal
uses the Food Court on Saturday mornings, attracting hundreds of people that gives business to full-time tenants as well. ADK Karting Experience is expected to do the same. “Our responsibility is getting people here,” Griffith said. “Anything we can do to increase foot traffic has always been a priority for us. That’s when shopping happens because shopping is impulse. That’s when tenants have their opportunity.” Two arcades, Insane Games and Trading Card Hub are other tenants where people come looking for fun rather than jeans or a new dress. On May 1, Jak in the Box Comics is scheduled to open, too. But a 50,000-square-foot vacancy still remains between Ollie’s and the Atrium near Regal Cinemas. Ollie’s took less than half of the former Bon-Ton. A large portion of the former Bon-Ton where it connected to the mall Atrium Continued On Page 11
Glens Falls Farmers’ Market Moves To Loans From Washington County Local Maple Street For Summer 2025 Season Development Corp. Support Businesses In Area The Glens Falls Farmers’ Market Association has announced that the Market will relocate to Maple Street in downtown Glens Falls for the Summer 2025 season, starting Saturday, May 3. This temporary move is due to ongoing construction on South Street, including the highly anticipated Market Center and adjacent development projects that currently limit accessibility and public safety. The new market location will occupy the block of Maple Street in front of the Queensbury Hotel and the former TD Bank building, directly across from City Park and the Crandall Public Library. This central location was selected to ensure minimal disruption for patrons while offering high visibility and ease of access. Maple Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every Saturday to accommodate market operations. The South Street redevelopment—funded in part by New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI)—is transforming the area into a vibrant hub of year-round commerce and community events. The Market Center, a cornerstone of this effort, is projected to become the permanent, four-season home of the Glens Falls Farmers’ Market. Until the surrounding construction and infrastructure improvements
Poster promotes the Glens Falls Farmers’ Market’s move to Maple Street for Summer 2025. Courtesy Glens Falls Farmers’ Market Association
are completed and fully accessible, the Market will operate at its alternate downtown location. The Market Center ribbon cutting is scheduled for May 16, but the facility will remain Continued On Page 10
BY PAUL POST A $35,000 loan helped Argyle Cheese Farmer finish its plant when the firm started out 18 years ago. Whitehall-based Hogwash Cleaning Solution got $150,000 to buy new equipment for its existing business and another $200,000 more recently to purchase a new building. The popular eatery Grumbellies’ move from Fort Ann to a former Glens Falls National Bank building in downtown Fort Edward has been made possible with $200,000 to acquire the building. These are among the dozens of small businesses that have flourished with loans from Washington County Local Development Corporation that’s provided $20 million to firms, with an amazing 92 percent success rate, since its founding 40 years ago. “Small business is really the engine of Washington County’s economy,” LDC President and Executive Director Deanna Derway said. “We don’t have the big industry that some of our neighboring counties do, so they created us to address that burgeoning small business sector.” The original pool of money came from federal Community Block grants.
“There’s been no money added to it since then, just the interest on loans we get back from businesses,” Derway said. “That’s the money we use to help the next business down the road. It’s a revolving loan fund.” Loans range anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000, but can go higher with approval from a seven-member review committee and the county Board of Supervisors. Almost three dozen loans are currently under contract. “We are a $5 million dollar corporation and have four different revolving loan programs, each with its own set of guidelines,” Derway said. They are for: · Real estate purchases with no renovations. · Real estate purchases with renovations. · Small business with five or fewer employees. · A USDA program that supports agricultural-based operations. “The only thing we don’t do, you can’t use a loan to refinance existing debt,” Derway said. “If somebody started a business on their credit card and comes to us to refinance that piece, we don’t do that.” Continued On Page 2