By Jill Nagy
Mark LeFebvre noticed two things. One was that sales of craft beer were increasing while sales of regular beers were slowly declining. The other was that no one in his hometown of Queensbury was selling craft beers.
So, he found his niche: The Hops and Barley Market, purveyor of craft beers and gourmet snacks.
The store is located at 756 Upper Glen Street, in the Queensbury Plaza, “tucked away in the corner of the plaza,” he explained, somewhat dwarfed by some of its larger neighbors such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden.
The shop opened in early June and celebrated its grand opening at the end of July with it first beer tasting event.
Representative of four regional brewers offered samples: Saratoga Brewing Co., Davidson Brothers (of Glens Falls), Adirondack Brewers, and Samuel Adams. Appropriate snacks were also served. He said “sales were up significantly” and he had two extra employees working that Friday.
LeFebvre plans at least one tasting event per month and will announce them on the business’s Facebook page. He also plans some giveaways and contests to bring in customers.
“I want to open up the area to people,” many of whom are new to craft beers, he said. At Barley and Hops, beer is sold in bottles and cans and there are 15 taps available to dispense beer by the growler (64-ounce bottle) or Boston round (32 ounces). He will specialize in “all the local breweries we can get,” he said, drawing mainly from upstate New York and Vermont.
On the grocery side of the store, his wife and partner, Marianne, stocks “as much local food as possible,” concentrating on snack foods not readily available elsewhere, including Oscar’s Smokehouse meats, Palatable Peppers, and a variety of chips, dips, rubs, and spices. He describes Marianne as a “foodie” but, for now, she is not giving up her day job as a teacher at Queensbury Middle School.
Despite the name, the shop does not sell either hops or barley, at least not yet. However, LeFebvre plans to begin selling home brewing supplies and kits later in the year, “hopefully in time for Christmas.” They do not brew beer on the premises.
LeFebvre started the Hops and Barley Market after several years working in an unrelated family business.
“I decided to go down the path of something I enjoyed,” he said, noting that he is an enthusiastic beer drinker.
The Barley and Hops Market is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. The telephone number is 798-BEER (2337).