Steve Thurston (2021)
The Falls: Logo-ed truckers cap.
Sensing renewed enthusiasm and fresh energy in downtown Glens Falls, Frankie Mineo has started “The Falls,” a lifestyle apparel line with hats, shirts, fleece hoodies and canvas grocery bags featuring a logo created by George Normandin of Normandin Marketing.
“I wanted something simple and timeless,” Mineo told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com. “‘The Falls’ represents a lifestyle for those of us who love to live, work and play in Glens Falls. It’s been a rough year and a half, and I hope this will bring people together.
“Glens Falls already has a strong sense of community. I think this is the perfect time for this. I think it’s something everyone can get behind.”
Mineo, a Queensbury native, describes himself as an entrepreneur. He owns and operates Gaslight, a restaurant in Lake George Village. His wife, the former Ali Gazetos, operates the New Way Lunch in Queensbury.
Merchandise is available online only, at thefalls.life.
He’s starting slowly, with just a few logo-ed items, but says he plans to add more, including coffee mugs. At some point he hopes to supply local shops or open his own storefront, he said.
Mineo said eventually he wants to produce all items locally.
The logo features a bald eagle head. Clean angled lines represent the eagle’s wings, an homage to the city’s original name—Wing’s Falls—and to the plunge of the Hudson River falls for which the city is named, Normandin said.
“Hometown USA” is also on the logo, a nod to the city’s unofficial motto, which stems from a 1944 Look Magazine article about the city, Normandin said.
Five percent of all profits will be donated to the GF Nation Fund, a non-profit formed “to enhance the development of the students of the Glens Falls City School District through financial support of its K-12 extracurricular programs, including art, music, clubs, and athletics,” its mission statement says.
Normandin, who also created the website for The Falls, is president of the GF Nation Fund board.
Mineo said extracurricular activities are so important for young students, adding “I didn’t have an easy time in high school, and I know extracurricular activities got me through a bunch of stuff.”
On “The Falls” website, Mineo writes, “To us, Glens Falls is the greatest place to live, work, and play in the USA. It’s a gem, rich with history, world-class art, music, architecture, athletic traditions, and hard-working people who sincerely care about their neighbors within the community.
“Our mission at The Falls is simple — to spread the love we have for this big-hearted little city and to share that love with as many people as possible.”