By Jill Nagy

Even as a child taking ballet and tap lessons, Mary Beth Besler knew that she wanted to own and operate a dance studio. Eight years ago, she abandoned her “backup career” as an accountant and signed the lease for her first studio as the Dance Lab on West Avenue in Saratoga Springs.

She quickly outgrew that studio space and, five years ago, moved to her current location at 538 Maple Ave. (Route 9) in Wilton. Within a year, even that space grew too small, but the COVID pandemic hit and she stayed put. By 2020-21, the dancers began to return and Besler began to search for a new site.

She sought a new location and she knew she wanted to remain on the Maple Avenue corridor, a location that was convenient and had great visibility. Last month, she closed on the purchase of a 4.76-acre piece of land at 604 Maple Avenue and is awaiting the necessary permits to begin construction.
“We already have the approvals. We are just waiting for the permits,” she explained.

Saratoga Auto Supply has opened its newest NAPA Auto Parts location in Milton.

The majority of NAPA Auto Parts stores are owned independently by local community members. In Milton, the new store is owned by the husband and wife team of Jeff and Veronica Shorr as part of the Saratoga Auto Supply Group. 

The Saratoga Auto Supply Group was established in 2014 and now consists of five NAPA Auto Parts locations across Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties. 

The group also operates four additional private parts supply stores for large clients including DA Collins Companies, the Romeo Auto Group and Rowland Street Garage.  

Saratoga Auto Supply also supports over 30 locally-owned and operated auto repair shops in Saratoga County under its NAPA Auto Care banner as well. 

The new 16,000-square-foot NAPA location in Milton is the first NAPA location in the United States to be designated as a large-format showcase store and it is being used by NAPA as a model to test design concepts NAPA hopes to launch in select markets across the U.S., according to company officials.

 The store features an 8,000-square-foot showroom, a pair of interactive two-car garages displays, a Milwaukee Tool Zone, the Chemical Guys Vehicle Detailing Center, and it offers free EV Charging Stations onsite.  

In addition, this location provides in-house Valspar automotive paint mixing and houses a dedicated NAPA Direct Call Center to support its 600-plus wholesale customers in Saratoga County. 

Minogue’s Beverage Centers  has an arrangement with Hinny Hard Seltzer to carry its variety 12-pack of hard ciders.

Hinny Hard is now available at all four Minogue’s Beverage Centers, including Saratoga Springs, Malta, Queensbury, and Wilton.

“We are thrilled to have established a partnership with Minogue’s,” said Tim Nickels, founder of Hinny Hard Seltzer. “As a fellow U.S. Army vet, Angelo and his team share similar values and a commitment to serving and supporting our veteran community.”

Hinny Hard Seltzer, which officially launched in January of this year, is now available in 70 locations, including retailers, bars and restaurants, across upstate and central New York.  The company said that number is rapidly growing.

Hinny, which is being sold as a variety 12-pack at retail locations, comes now in four flavors, including blueberry mint, bourbon-flavored, cranberry and black cherry. Summer flavors, including grape and pink grapefruit, will be introduced in the coming weeks.

By Jill Nagy

A dozen years ago, Catherine Hover started a business called Paint and Sip in Saratoga Springs, a place where people could, as the name suggests, paint pictures and sip wine. Within a year, she added additional studios, which she has since sold. 

The sales proceeds went into Palette, a woman-focused co-working and incubator space, also in Saratoga Springs. Palette was founded in 2019 and expanded in 2020. Palette spawned several other businesses, some owned by Hover and others, partly financed by her. 

Recently, Palette outgrew its space and moved to new quarters. Those quarters, down the street at 480 Broadway, have also grown tight and Palette has rented two more nearby offices.

by Paul Post

 Snow is still melting off the slopes and West Mountain already has a full slate of summer activities planned including a brand-new Sunday farmer’s market (9 a.m. to noon) from June 4 to Labor Day Weekend.

 “There’s really not a lot on this side of town in terms of grocery shopping. I know how successful the Glens Falls Farmer’s Market is and thought was a good opportunity to have one in Queensbury and another way of bringing people to the mountain,” said Sara Montgomery, who co-owns the resort with her husband, Spencer.

 Vendors will offer farm, food, jewelry, art and floral goods and products.

 Bread maker Rachael Lujbli currently belongs to the Lake George Farmer’s Market, but not Glens Falls—which is held Saturdays on South Street—so the West Mountain event is opening doors for her to a whole new customer base.

Rachael’s Breads most popular items are sourdough, cinnamon buns and cookies.