(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
(Credit: Steve Thurston, 2022)
The grand opening of the Park & Elm deli, gourmet grocery, and restaurant was ballyhooed by Glens Falls leadership and by those interviewed who streamed into the new enterprise on Saturday Nov. 19 at lunch time. The owners are calling the enterprise a "multi-concept eatery."
Eponymously named at the intersection of Park and Elm streets in downtown Glens Falls, the small grocery was a mix of fresh vegetables, meats and even some daily household necessities such as dish soap. The building is mixed use with apartments on the second floor above the ground-floor commercial space.
Local entrepreneur Elizabeth Miller is behind the venture, this time with her son Ben Miller and his wife Anita MacDonald at the helm. Ben Miller is the Operations Manager of Park Street Hospitality, their company that developed the building and also runs Docs Restaurant.
[Read more about Elizabeth’s and Ben’s activity here.]
The city’s development has been trending toward walkability, with the creation of the residences, The Mill and 14 Hudson, on Hudson Avenue, and with the redevelopment of housing that is just beginning at the corner of South and Elm streets.
Discussions in City Hall and at agency meetings such as the Industrial Development Agency since at least December 2020 included the need for a grocery within walking distance. The closest Hannaford supermarket, on Broad Street, is just over a mile from Centennial Circle.
Recently, the organic grocery Pure-n-Simple was purchased and, according to reports, is undergoing renovation and will include more fresh produce. It is located near the corner of Bay and Washington streets about half mile from the circle.
Recent discussions at city council meetings about the fate of the Glens Falls Farmers Market have included public input from people who live downtown and want to make sure the farmers market remains as a walkable option for fresh groceries.
[Read more about Pure-n-simple here and about the farmers market here.]
“The food market, it’s a critical piece of the downtown living experience,” said Glens Falls Economic Director Jeff Flagg at the event.
Ben Miller told the crowd at the opening that he felt passionately that the community needed this sort of space. He thanked his staff and then thanked patrons for their patience. People queued at the deli counter which ran a little long and slow, making him quip: “We’re going to get a second deli scale for sure.”
That did not seem to bother the handful of people interviewed.
Dawn Biddiscomb owner of Premier Plus Travel and Tours on Warren Street said, “It’s nice to be able to run here and get something.”
She and her husband Chris Biddiscomb ate sandwiches at the cafe bar that overlooks Park Street.
“We need a real good sandwich deli, a quick lunch,” Chris Biddiscomb said.
The popular Docs Restaurant across the street in the Park Theater building, also owned by Elizabeth Miller, will move into the restaurant space of Park & Elm. Ben Miller said the chef is not changing, and the style of food the restaurant is known for is not changing, but the exact items on the menu might.
“We’ve all been saving some aces up our sleeves,” he said.
The Docs Restaurant space will focus on events and catering, he said. They are looking at renting the dining space along with the theater for special events.
The building at 15-25 Park Street once housed a vacuum cleaner repair shop, a head shop and a small art store before Elizabeth Miller bought the building in 2019.