Category Archives: Uncategorized

A new Indian restaurant is open in Clifton Park.

Spice Malabar, 7 Southside Drive, opened in The Shops at Village Plaza on March 16.

The owners also operate  Karavalli of Latham, also an Indian restaurant.

The cuisine at Spice Malabar is influenced by  the flavors of north and south Indian.

Vince George, chef and owner of Spice Malabar, said North Indian cuisine includes dishes and breads cooked in the tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. Traditionally, meats and vegetables slowly cook in tomato, onion, and tree nut-based sauces, which are seasoned to each dish.

South Indian cuisine brings together the cuisines of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mangalore and Goa with a range of healthy dishes.

Seafood is at the heart of Spice Malabar’s menu, which also includes poultry, game and vegetarian selections.

Visitors to Spice Malabar can experience a  lunch buffet that includes tandoor, vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegetarian specialties.  Convenient take-out lunch box specials and other à la carte menu options are also offered mid-day.

By Jill Nagy

KPM Restoration, a company that cleans up and repairs premises after fires, floods and other disasters, moved in January to a new facility in Malta.

It consists of a large warehouse and 12 offices. It replaces a facility at 211 Maple St. in Saratoga Springs.

The company is still in the process of moving out of the Saratoga Springs location, according to business owner Jamie Kennedy. Only six years old, KPM outgrew its former quarters, he said.

The company is on-call 24 hours a day and, all 13 of its trucks are kept busy, said Kennedy. The company repairs damages from water pipe bursts, fixes other water damage, does mold  remediation and commercial cleaning .

A large part of the business these days involves COVID-19 cases. Kennedy said the company has done more than 200 COVID cleanups, which include cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing. As a community service, they have done several free clean-ups for schools and firehouses.

Kennedy came to the area from Milbrook, a downstate town near Poughkeepsie, where he had three businesses, a property management company (Kennedy Property Management), a landscaping service and a tree service. He sold them all and moved north.

By Christine Graf

Matt Snyder is proud to call himself a second generation broom maker.

His grandparents, George and Ann Snyder, started making brooms in the 1970s after purchasing several pieces of 19th century broom-making equipment at an auction. Matt began working in their broom shop, Snyder’s Brooms, when he was 8 and also traveled with them to arts and crafts fairs where they sold their products.

“I love the brooms and started collecting them when I was adult,” said 34-year-old Snyder. “As soon as I started to see my grandparents get older, I realized that when they stop doing this, that Snyder’s Brooms will no longer exist. I can’t let that happen. I’m doing this to keep it going.”

For that reason, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when much of the world was shut down, Snyder decided the timing was perfect to establish Snyder’s Handmade Brooms of Saratoga. He started making brooms out of his home and sold them at the Farmer’s Market.

“It was a hit. I ended up selling about 300 brooms last year, and it just started to expand. It went full tilt from there,” said Snyder who works full-time in sales.

“The demand is there because it’s something you can’t get anywhere else in the world. There are some broom makers out there, but they don’t make brooms like we make. The dyed broom corn and the braiding makes them unique. They are functional pieces of art and will last a lifetime.

By Joan Taub

What’s going on in real estate? That’s the question everyone asks when they learn I’m a Realtor.   

People want to know if it’s a buyer’s market, a seller’s market. They want to know what the interest rates are. Are there any “deals”? How long does it take to close? What’s my house worth?

Because no one has an accurate crystal ball, the answers  to those questions can change moment to moment. The information provided is always just a “snapshot in time.”

So, what is happening in real estate and, more specifically, what’s happening with real estate in Saratoga County? If you’re a seller, it’s great. If you’re a buyer, it’s a bit less great.

The basic reason is that there is so little inventory, all the buyers are vying for the same place.

Realtors usually price properties based upon similar properties, similar features, similar schools, the competition and the condition.  There is a process to determine a price range  where a house may sell and where it should be appraised by a bank. Most houses in today’s market have been priced via a method using historic data.

By Andrea Harwood Palmer

Whole Harvest has moved from a small space at 5 Caroline St. in Saratoga Springs to a larger storefront location at 419 Broadway, a spot  previously occupied by Plum Dandy frozen yogurt shop.

“The move to Broadway just made sense,” said co-owner Kelsey Whalen. “The change to our overhead didn’t change drastically, but the change in foot traffic and sales has quadruples—sometimes five times the amount. It’s reaffirmed my decision to move locations.”

Whalen grew up in Saratoga and was living in Boston after going to school for dietetics. After moving back home to Saratoga, Whalen was disappointed at the lack of healthy options for a full set menu, as she had grown accustomed to living in Boston.

“We have health in our tag line along with history and horses,” she said of Saratoga Springs.  “Yet there were no healthy full menus for people to enjoy. So I decided to go and do it myself.”

Whalen already had restaurant experience in food and liquor sales.

By Lori VanderVeer
Chances are, if you are reading this newspaper, then you are someone who is driven and business oriented.
Probably somebody who is an entrepreneur or someone who is committed to achieving the highest levels in their profession. I understand that mindset completely. I am that person too.
That is why I am so passionate about helping people achieve their best selves. It all starts with your health.
Oftentimes, it is the most driven people who tend to be the most unhealthy. Working as a physical therapist for over 30 years has exposed me to disease and illnesses that result from poor nutrition, stress and unhealthy habits. Over the last 15-20 years, the population of people I treat has increasingly shifted from simple orthopedic injuries to more complicated cases of patients who are simply “sick” with obesity-related medical illnesses and physical dysfunctions.

By Christine Graf
Two months after announcing the permanent closure of their location in Malta, Wired Coffee Roasters has opened a coffee shop in the newly-renovated Roosevelt II Baths and Spa in Saratoga Spa State Park.
The ribbon cutting took place on July 20.
According to owner Marty Michele (pronounced Michael), the closing of the Malta location was heavily influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a nice run there, but it just wasn’t viable for us to survive,” he said.
Although the Malta closure was unexpected, Michele said plans to open a shop in the park were already in motion. He received notification in February that Wired had won a statewide bidding process and had been selected to occupy space in the Roosevelt II. As part of their agreement, the park receives a portion of monthly sales in lieu of rent.

By Christine Graf

Quad Graphics plans to invest $45 million in plant upgrades and was recently awarded $1.05 million in tax incentives from the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency (IDA).

The company said it will be installing two state-of-the-art commercial printing presses in its Saratoga Springs plant where they print magazines, catalogs, and retail print inserts.

As part of the incentive package, Quad said it will save $211,000 in sales tax on equipment purchases. It will save an additional $105,000 a year in property tax as part of a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that freezes Quad’s property assessment.

According to Rod Sutton, IDA chairman, Quad Graphics approached the agency in October. At that time, the Saratoga Springs plant was one of 10 in the U.S. being considered as the location for the new presses. Quad Graphics has more than 35 plants in the U.S. and also has plants in Latin America and Europe.