Aug 08, 2007 — Supporters of a temporary cap on the size of retail stores in Saranac Lake and Harrietstown turned out in force at a public meeting on the issue Tuesday night. Most of the roughly twenty people who spoke supported a proposed two-year size-limit on stores. Individual stores would be capped at 40,000 square feet. Shopping centers would be capped at 68,000 square feet. The proposal comes in the wake of Wal-Mart's failed attempt to locate a super center in Saranac Lake. As Chris Knight reports, town and village leaders are expected to consider implementing the retail cap in the coming weeks.  Go to full article

Aug 08, 2007 — Supporters of a temporary cap on the size of retail stores in Saranac Lake and Harrietstown turned out in force at a public meeting on the issue Tuesday night. Most of the roughly twenty people who spoke supported a proposed two-year size-limit on stores. Individual stores would be capped at 40,000 square feet. Shopping centers would be capped at 68,000 square feet. The proposal comes in the wake of Wal-Mart's failed attempt to locate a super center in Saranac Lake. As Chris Knight reports, town and village leaders are expected to consider implementing the retail cap in the coming weeks.  Go to full article

Oct 13, 2006 — The Adirondack Park Agency approved a sign yesterday for the new Lowe's store under development in Ticonderoga. The review process triggered a major feud between elected officials and the APA. As Brian Mann reports, the tension was evident again yesterday at the Park Agency's meeting in Saranac Lake.  Go to full article

Aug 11, 2006 — Wal-Mart has canceled plans to develop a 120,000 square foot store in Saranac Lake. The project faced stiff opposition from some locals. A village election this spring was driven largely by pro- and anti-Wal-Mart groups. A Democratic Party slate won the election and slowed plans to sell a parcel of village-owned property to the corporation.

Chris Knight's coverage of these developments for WNBZ radio can be read by clicking  Go to full article

May 19, 2006 — When you compete with Wal-Mart, you're not only competing with the store. You're competing with the brand. That's what Gregory Warner found when he stopped by a survival workshop for business owners in Potsdam yesterday. The workshops to help local businesses compete with mega-retailers were offered by the Malone-based non-profit ComLinks, along with local Small Business Development Centers. Though these local businesses were not all the mom-and-pop stores you might expect.  Go to full article

May 12, 2006 — For small business owners, competing against Wal-Mart may sound impossible. But one North Country non-profit says there are strategies. Next week the ComLinks Women's Entrepreneurial Business Center is offering three "survival workshops" to teach mom-and-pop stores to compete with mega-retailers. Brenda Thornton is running the workshops at Comlinks. She told Gregory Warner that business owners need to play to their strengths.
The workshops are at NCCC campuses in malone and Saranac Lake May 18 from 5:30 to 8:30 and at the Potsdam Civic center from 1 to 4.  Go to full article

Mar 29, 2006 — Rebecca Hanni and her mom Shari Wolfe run "The Pantry", a small grocery store in Theresa. They've got all the basics. Milk, bread... even fresh produce. But these days customers are as rare as tourists are in the small village. Rebecca and her mom say that's because Wal-Mart opened in nearby Leray, outside Fort Drum. So they're closing shop this Friday. Douglas Hopper stopped in for a bag of peanuts. They told him it's more than money they're losing.  Go to full article

Nov 29, 2005 — Saranac Lake debates Wal Mart. NY's Open Space plan may not protect sensitive areas in the Park. And we meet the workers who build the facades on the Chinese buffets popping up around the North Country.  Go to full article

Nov 29, 2005 — Over the last two years, Wal-Mart has made a major push into northern New York. New stores are slated for Lowville and Malone. Another store planned for Potsdam sparked a lawsuit earlier this month by Wal-Mart opponents. Now, locals in Saranac Lake are reacting to rumors that the company hopes to build a new Wal-Mart on the outskirts of the village. Local officials have moved to re-zone a ten-acre parcel of village-owned land so that it could be sold for commercial use. Part of the development would also sit on private land. People with doubts about the big box retailer crowded a Village council meeting last night. In a straw poll taken by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, fifty-two percent of readers were in favor of Wal-Mart. Forty-seven percent were opposed. Editor Peter Crowley spoke with Brian Mann about the heated Wal-Mart debate.  Go to full article

Nov 16, 2004 — Five years ago, the town of Ticonderoga debated the wisdom of allowing a Wal-Mart outlet on the outskirts of the community. The box store was eventually okayed and now anchors a new business district made up mostly of chain stores. As Brian Mann reports, local leaders and business owners say Ticonderoga's downtown was hit hard by the change, but is staging a comeback.  Go to full article