Category Archives: Women In Business

By Jill Nagy

Violet’s of Saratoga, a women’s clothing and accessories store at 494 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, reopened in February after a major makeover. Owner Laura Farrar-Pileckas plans a party on March 10 to show off the new look and celebrate the reopening.

In the meantime, the shop is fully stocked and open for business.

Violet’s has “a fresh new feel,” more modern and plush, with new furnishings and light fixtures, as well as a few new brands of merchandise, according to Pilleckas. “I’m excited about the season coming up,” she said, and she hopes that customers will share her enthusiasm.

Pileckas opened Violet’s nine years ago as a women’s clothing store. A few years later, she opened Stella’s, a women’s shoe store. The two were later combined into the store at its present site in the Collamer Building, near the Saratoga Springs City Hall.

Pileckas said that she “always loved fashion” and also enjoyed business, including working in retail. She has a bachelors degree in finance and worked for five years in that field in Boston.

Then, she “decided to become an entrepreneur. … I couldn’t see myself sitting at a desk for the rest of my life.”

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Country Corner Café on Church Street in Saratoga Springs is celebrating its 25th year, and owner Roseann Hotaling couldn’t be happier with the business she has created.

In 1991, she opened the 19-seat café, catering to the early morning working crowd. The mother of a three-year old and a kindergartener, Hotaling managed to arrive at the café by 5 a.m. and open the doors for business at 6 a.m. By 8 a.m., she would change and head over to her full-time job as director of food service for the Saratoga Springs City School District.

This routine lasted for 14 years, and in 2005 Hotaling made the decision to leave the school district and devote her energy full-time to the café. She opened a second location on High Rock Avenue in Saratoga Springs.

Two and a half years after opening the High Rock location, Hotaling was offered the opportunity to expand the Church Street location and jumped at the chance. The additional space tripled the seating capacity. For the next couple of years, she was, in effect, running three businesses–the original café, the expanded dining room next door, and the High Rock location.

Although the High Rock café was equally successful, “things just got too crazy,” said Hotaling. When the lease expired there, she did not renew. She focused on the expanded Church Street business.

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Kimberly Harbour knows that, regardless of the type of business you own, an understanding of how business works is vital to success.

With B. Couture Fashions in Ballston Lake, Harbour has combined her business and marketing expertise with her love of fashion to create a successful retail company.

B. Couture Fashions carries Carlisle-Etcetera, an exclusive luxury line of clothing and accessories catering to the busy woman who needs to keep current with her wardrobe, but who doesn’t have the time or the inclination to go from department store to department store in search of items that fit and look great.

Harbour, who has a degree in business and marketing from Skidmore College, began her career in retail, and later opened her own public relations firm. She was a longtime client of B. Couture before she was approached by the former owner to purchase the business.

She took over in January 2014 and has been doing great ever since. B. Couture already had a loyal following and Harbour continues to attract new customers. Her marketing and PR skills have been a huge help to her in her efforts, but her biggest challenge is getting people to make that initial appointment.

Vicki Ure, an interior decorator for 25 years, opened her first Victoria’s Corner shop in Malta. Now she owns and operates three such shops, in Clifton Park, Ballston Spa and Glens Falls.©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com

BY MAUREEN WERTHER

Vicki Ure has been an interior decorator for 25 years, originally occupying space in Malta Commons, but thirteen years ago she moved to the mall in Clifton Park.

Her professional reputation and the popularity of her Victoria’s Corner shop increased rapidly, prompting expansion to a second studio at 20 Learned St. in Albany in March 2015.

Last July, she opened a third studio in Glens Falls.

The Glens Falls Shirt Factory, 71 Lawrence St., Glens Falls, is home to the latest expansion of Victoria’s Corner.

In 2003, Ure left the mall and worked out of her home for about seven years in order to raise her family and care for her mother.

In 2013, She decided to open Victoria’s Corner at 252 Milton Ave. in Ballston Spa. It proved to be an ideal location for Ure, especially since her services have expanded to include reviving and re-purposing old and heirloom furnishings and accessories. Ballston Spa is a popular destination for antiques and antiques lovers.

Ure offers a complete menu of design and interior decorating services at all of her locations, including custom window treatments, upholstery and slipcovers, as well as refurbishing, reviving, and reinventing old furniture, lamps, dishware, and other decorative accessories.

Marcia J. White, president and executive director of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), is stepping down from her job at the end of 2016, SPAC’s 50th anniversary season.

This will be her 12th summer season at SPAC.

Hon. Susan Phillips Read, a retired associate judge of the state Court of Appeals and chairwoman of SPAC’s board of directors, said during the upcoming summer’s golden anniversary season, SPAC will “celebrate our many visionary leaders since 1966. Marcia is certainly one of them. Her imprint will remain long after her tenure at SPAC ends.”

“It has been a privilege and a joy of my life to lead, serve, and work for one of the most extraordinary performing arts centers in the world,” White said in February. “The Saratoga Performing Arts Center has enriched and enhanced the quality of life for millions of people since its founding 50 years ago. I have been truly blessed to have had the unique opportunity to work with SPAC’s passionate board, dedicated staff and the greater Capital Region Community, and I am immensely proud of all that we have accomplished together.”

She came to SPAC just prior to the 40th anniversary season, “and feel that the ideal time to depart is at the conclusion of SPAC’s 50th anniversary celebration season. While I feel my energies leading me in new directions, it’s with deeply bitter-sweet emotion that I announce my decision to leave SPAC,” said White.

White became president and executive director of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in March of 2005. With a leadership style developed during 20 years as a top-level political advisor and public relations strategist in the state Legislature, she ushered in a new era for SPAC, characterized by a strengthened financial picture, historic capital improvements, a robust educational focus, and artistic excellence, SPAC officials said.