Steve Thurston (2021)
Jim Campione stands in the Big Moose General Store and Restaurant, which he owns with his fiance.
The Big Moose General Store just off Exit 22 in Lake George has moved up Lake Shore Drive to the former Grandma’s Back Porch building. The move came during the pandemic when the owner of the property near the exit looked to sell and the store co-owner, Jim Campione, did not want to buy, he said. The new location is a smaller general store and a restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch all week, and dinners Thursday through Saturday.
The expansion into food service at this location has been tough given the pandemic’s effect on the industry.
“I can’t get help,” he said, a refrain heard throughout the industry. He added, “We’re starving” for employees. The organization has survived its first season in the new location.
If the Big Moose name sounds familiar, maybe it should. Campione also owns the Big Moose Furniture store near Diamond Point, a place known for colorful Adirondack chairs on display along Lake Shore Drive.
With his fiance-partner, he owns All Things Home and Balsam and Birch in the Adirondack Outlet Mall in Queensbury near Northway Exit 20.
But it’s his latest adventure, the 40 Oak Classic American Grille, on Glen Road in Queensbury that gets him talking.
“40 Oak, by far, has the most potential,” he said.
Starting in September, he is bringing sports stars into the restaurant to hob-nob with paying guests.
He said tickets Sept.12 for “Dinner with the Doctor” will feature legendary Mets and Yankees pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden. Access will run $125 per ticket and feature dinner, photos, autographs and a question-and-answer session.
That night, Sept. 12, just happens to be a cross-town rivalry game between the two baseball teams, Campione said, so fans can watch and talk baseball with a legend.
Campion is a memorabilia collector and that has gotten him some access to big names, he said. He has ideas for many more guests including New York Giants Bruce Smith and Jim Kelly.
“We’re going to try to go after that market,” Campione said, the market of people who want to have a meal with a star, grab an autograph and photo, and ask questions of some favorite players, but the plan really needs community support or he will not be able to make it work.
But he also wants to get local sports figures like Jim Girard III and Jimmer Fredette, the Glens Falls standouts who have gone on to basketball careers, and Ian Anderson, the Shenendehowa High pitcher who went pro with the Atlanta Braves.
“I want to show kids that if you put forth the right kind of effort, anything is possible,” he said.
And he tied that theory back to his restaurants.
“This kind of business...you have to be a team player,” he said. Staff members have to work with each other and step in and do the job of someone if they cannot do it. With so few people on staff during the pandemic, this is even more acute he said, adding, “Your staff has to know you have their back.”