Category Archives: New Businesses

By Jill Nagy
Whether nostalgic for tie-dye T-shirts or needing just the right crystal to help get through difficult times, Mystic World strives to fill the bill. The business, long a fixture at the Wilton Mall in Saratoga County and in downtown Lake George, recently opened a new store at 423 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs.
They are still trying to get settled in at the new location, owner Violet Cannistraci said, and December was a very busy month, sometimes too busy for store employees to answer the telephone.
She said people found the Saratoga location mainly by word of mouth but also through listings on Facebook and Google. “The support for local business is amazing,” she said.
Some shoppers patronized both the Wilton Mall and the Saratoga Springs outlets, searching for just the right crystal. Each crystal is unique, Cannistraci noted, hand picked by her at gem shows.
“My house is full of crystals and I always have crystals with me,” she said. They are the most popular item in her stores. People buy them for their possible healing properties, because they are beautiful to look at and as a way to connect with the earth, she said.

By Jill Nagy
During her nine years operating the Five Points Market and Deli in Saratoga Springs, Maura Pulver often wished she could do “just food” and not worry about the other obligations of operating a neighborhood market.
Now, she has a new operation called Simply Food at 666 Route 9 in Wilton. It’s not really a restaurant, she said, but rather “kind of like a family shop.”
She serves breakfast sandwiches, lunches and, on Tuesday nights, home cooked takeout dinners. The lunch business, she said, has been very good. There are many new stores and offices in the neighborhood and, so far, not many options for those people to buy lunch.
Her breakfast sandwiches are very popular, she said, and dinners sell out most Tuesdays. So much so, she is thinking of adding another takeout night.
Among her breakfast sandwiches selections is the Blueberry Bomb, on grilled and buttered blueberry bread, loaded with cheddar cheese, two eggs, sausage and maple syrup. Another selection, the “horseman breakfast,” consists of two eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, American cheese, and hash brown potatoes on a hard roll.

By Jill Nagy
Nafeesa Koslik grew up in India, the oldest of five children. So, “by means of necessity” she started cooking when she was eight years old, she said.
While living in Milton with her husband and three children, a restaurant building became available at about the time she was laid off from her job in hotel management. As a result, Nani’s Indian Kitchen opened at 256 Milton Ave., Ballston Spa.
The business is “going like wildfire, very busy,” she said.
After a soft opening, the restaurant officially opened the day after Thanksgiving. That Friday and the following Saturday, Koslik served meals in the restaurant. However, with COVID-19 restrictions, the establishment can only seat eight to 10 people at a time, instead of the normal 33. Consequently, Koslik switched to a take-out only format for the time being.

By Christine Graf
Glens Falls business owner Robin Barkenhagen recently opened a second location of his 42° ventures. The new glass gallery and smoke shop is located in Ellsworth Plaza on Route 9 in Malta.
Last year, he relocated his Glens Falls store from Park Street to the Colvin Building at 206 Glen St. The building was purchased for $945,000 in January 2019 by Brian Bronzino, part owner of 42°. Barkenhagen and Bronzino entered into their partnership in 2018.
The first 42° opened in 2010, and the move to the larger store on Glen Street allowed Barkenhagen to expand his product line.
Both stores feature glass products that are handmade by more than 100 independent glass artists throughout the United States, he said. Convenience store items are also sold at the Glens Falls location.
“We sell things like cigarettes and vape products,” he said. “Our glass gallery features high-end glass. We have pipes ranging from $15 to $80, and our most expensive piece is $40,000. It’s a glass chess board that’s in our window in Glens Falls.
“Some people buy our glass and use it as decorations. There are collectors around the country that will seek out some of these blowers that we have that are nationally and internationally known,” Barkenhagen said.

By Jennifer Farnsworth
Nicole Loscalzo is making a career out of something that she loves to do and in a new space that is serving her well. As owner of Salon 8, she has brought her passion for hair color to Saratoga.
Loscalzo first opened her business in Vermont. Before that, she was working as a flight attendant. But everything changed after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“After the 9/11 attacks, I was furloughed from my job and I thought what now? I decided to go to cosmetology school on a whim. I wasn’t even that serious about it, but I found that I absolutely loved it. I have been doing hair ever since,” she said.
Later, Loscalzo decided to make a change and thought Saratoga would work as a new location. She likes that it is close enough to Vermont for her loyal customers to travel to her and at the same time, it gives her a bigger pool of clients.
“Being right off of (Northway) Exit 15, I’ve been able to keep my Vermont customers who are willing to make the drive. I am starting to bring in more local people, and of course I am so thankful for that,” said Loscalzo.