Courtesy Ann Donnelly
By Ann Donnelly
Felicia Lynn launched Hometown Board Shop with the goal of rebuilding the snowboard community she remembers growing up with in Queensbury. The shop operates within Inside Edge on Glen Street, though Lynn said it already feels far more established than its short history suggests. The 2025-26 season will mark its first official winter season.
Lynn and her husband, Matt, are Queensbury High School graduates who returned to the area after 10 years of coaching competitive freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Vermont and Minnesota. Lynn said the idea for the business was sparked by a simple question: Where did the snowboard shops go? The name Hometown Board Shop grew from a suggestion by Matt referencing Glens Falls’ “Hometown USA” nickname, with community forming the core of the brand.
Lynn brings extensive experience in ski, snowboard and outdoor sports retail. She raced for Queensbury in high school and studied outdoor recreation at Cortland. For a decade, she and Matt coached high-level youth athletes in freestyle skiing and snowboarding. That background now shapes her approach to staff training and mentoring young riders who visit the shop.
Lynn said transitioning from coaching to business ownership required her to coach herself through unfamiliar challenges. She worked with SCORE, a Small Business Administration-supported mentoring organization, and secured a mentor who provided financial structure and guidance during the startup process. Lynn said that perspective shift helped normalize larger long-term financing decisions during the shop’s launch phase.
She is also familiar with the location, having worked on and off at Inside Edge and its affiliated business, Reliable Racing, since 2011. Hometown Board Shop operates as a distinct business within the shared retail space, which Lynn said allows the snowboard community to maintain its own identity while complementing Inside Edge’s broader equipment offerings.
Product lines include snowboards and accessories, Nordic skis and boots added due to the shop’s proximity to Coles Woods and its expanded cross-country trail system, all-mountain skis and bikes, including e-bikes.
Operational challenges include balancing hands-on customer service with administrative responsibilities. Lynn said Matt manages bookkeeping and social media, while support also comes from her mother and two long-time technicians.
Despite the challenges of launching a new business, Lynn remains optimistic heading into winter. “Pray for snow,” she said.