Category Archives: Business News

By Rod Bacon

A haberdashery that has kept men looking their best for over 60 years has a new location.

J. Reid Menswear is now at 174 Glen Street in Glens Falls, just two doors away from where they’ve been serving customers for the past five years.

“It’s important that I stay on Glen Street,” said owner Jeffrey Ives. “This store is a small business that specializes in serving the community.”

Ives purchased the multi-story building, which previously housed the local office of Albany-based Aeon Nexus Corporation, for $750,000. He worked with Leslie D’Angelico and Zane Smith at Arrow Financial Corporation on the small business loan. His real estate agent was Christine McKee of  Hunt Real Estate ERA.

Improvements were done by Argyle-based StraightUp Concrete & Renovations, owned by Jack Ash. 

The menswear company was founded in 1965 by Seymour Segan as Jonathan Reid, named after his son, Jonathan Reid Segan. The store was located in Queensbury’s Northway Plaza. In 1975, he opened a store in Saratoga Springs’ Pyramid Mall and soon after relocated his original store to the Aviation Mall. Throughout the 1980s and ‘90s he expanded his business to include 12 stores in New York state, Vermont, and Massachusetts. The elder Segan retired in 1994 and turned the business over to his son, who downsized it to focus on the Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs markets.

“Within six months of starting work I knew I was going to buy it,” said Ives, who joined the company in 2000. “I didn’t know when and I didn’t know how, but I knew I was going to. So I started keeping a log of everything that worked and everything that didn’t. I did that for fifteen years so the day I bought it I was ready. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) welcomed 260 guests at The Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing, N.Y., for its annual dinner celebration Friday, March 6, 2026. During the event, the chamber honored Dr. Jacquiline “Jacky” Touba with its 37th Annual J. Walter Juckett Award.

The program included a resolution presentation by Senator Dan Stec and Assemblyman Matt Simpson, and a proclamation presentation by Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner. The boards of supervisors of Warren and Washington counties also prepared proclamations for Dr. Touba. A video tribute highlighted Dr. Touba’s accomplishments, including the creation of the World Awareness Children’s Museum in Glens Falls, N.Y.

In her remarks, Dr. Touba thanked family and friends and spoke about working together as a community. She said J. Walter Juckett was among the first donors during fundraising for the children’s museum. With more than 50 years as an artist, Dr. Touba drew on her work as a college professor and her world travels to help children and adults explore a diverse world through interactive play and learning.

By Paul Post

Glens Falls-based Arrow Financial Corp. expects to double its geographic territory with the proposed $89.1 million acquisition of Utica-based Adirondack Bancorp, which has 19 branch offices from the Mohawk Valley north to the Canadian border.

“Part of our strategic plan is mergers and acquisitions,” Arrow President and CEO Dave DeMarco said. “To continue to provide shareholder value in our business, you have to grow. We’re celebrating our 175th year. The timing couldn’t be better to find a willing partner to join forces.”

“We’ve been actively looking for a bank or banks that fit our mold, a community-based bank that looks, feels and acts like we do,” he said.

Adirondack Bancorp serves the same types of communities as Arrow, which makes the deal a good one culturally, DeMarco said.

But with $4.5 billion in assets, Arrow is much bigger than Adirondack ($942 million in total assets) and offers a broader range of services including wealth management and insurance. Based on financial results as of Dec. 31, 2025, the combined company would have pro forma total assets of $5.4 billion, total deposits of $4.8 billion and total gross loans of $4.1 billion.

By Carol Ann Conover

The partners behind one of Lake George Village’s most recognizable waterfront restaurants have added a new chapter to their story, acquiring the Village Mall — the 50-year-old retail complex on Canada Street where their business was born.

Joe Mondella, Mark French and John Grillo, equal partners in GNSD Enterprises LLC, recently completed the purchase of the Village Mall in the village of Lake George. The trio opened The Lagoon restaurant inside the mall in 2018, leasing from the Quirk family, which previously owned the property.

“As we opened the business and started running the restaurant, we quickly realized that the location — right on the lake in the heart of Lake George — had just a ton of potential,” Mondella said.

From its original single-level footprint, The Lagoon has expanded to occupy six of the mall’s 16 storefronts, adding a second kitchen and patio on the lakeside level below. The partners installed a pizza oven, built out a prep kitchen and remodeled the bar as they invested steadily in the space they did not yet own.

“Without owning the property ourselves, it seemed like: are we going to continue to invest in this property that we don’t own?” Mondella said. “After a really short period of time, we said to ourselves, if we’re going to invest all this money and we’re going to be here, it would really be in our best interest to own the building.”

By Paul Post

Lessons learned many years ago at a Glens Falls family kitchen are paying huge dividends for a Norwich, Conn., restaurant owner.

Toast Changemakers recently awarded Justin Burrows a $10,000 grant, one of only 15 U.S. businesses chosen, for his firm’s commitment to addressing local hunger and supporting individuals in need.

In 2019, he bought La Stella Pizzeria, an Italian eatery, and since 2022 has given thousands of free “Lefty Special” meals (pizza, pasta, soup or bread) to anyone who calls or walks through the doors to make sure no one goes hungry. They’re named for the late Vincent “Lefty” George of Glens Falls.

“My Uncle Lefty was one of the greatest influences in my life,” Burrows said. “He and my Aunt Barb were recipients of the highly prestigious Jefferson Award. But beyond that they had a home that was open to everyone. As a first-generation Italian-American, he believed wholeheartedly in feeding people whether it was the mayor or someone without a home. He treated everyone the same.”

“Some of my fondest memories are sitting at his table, sharing a meal and listening to his stories including those from his time in World War II,” Burrows said. “He embodied the kind of person I always hoped to become.”

Burrows’ grandparents lived a few doors away on McDonald Street, where Justin’s father, Rob, grew up. Justin, his wife, Kelsey, and their children still make frequent trips to Glens Falls to visit relatives.

By Paul Post

Maple producers in Warren, Washington and Saratoga counties are gearing up for Open House Weekends to celebrate the sweetest time of year.

With more than 2,000 sugar makers statewide, New York is the nation’s second-leading producer behind only Vermont, and the industry generates an annual economic impact of about $141 million.

In Warren County, Thurman Maple Days plays an especially important role in generating tourism as the ski season winds down before the onset of summer vacation months.

“We’ve kind of become known as the Maple Capital of New York,” said Randy Galusha, owner of Toad Hill Maple Farm. “What we’re practicing is agritourism. People get to see our farms and learn about the history of maple sugaring. It’s one of the shoulder seasons when not a lot of other things are going on.”

The Lake George Chamber of Commerce says off-shoulder hotel bookings increased dramatically last year, reflecting ongoing efforts to make the region a more year-round tourist destination. According to Visa Analytics, 45 percent of visitor spending in 2025 occurred during shoulder-season months, matching peak-season performance and signaling a more balanced annual tourism cycle.