{"id":35425,"date":"2020-10-15T13:07:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T17:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=35425"},"modified":"2020-10-16T11:41:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T15:41:43","slug":"putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Gloria Griskowitz, left, and Cathy Hamilton, are the owners of Putnam Market.
\u00a92020 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Susan Elise Campbell
\nA retrospective of Putnam Market\u2019s 25 years is a case study in how a business can evolve 180 degrees from the original concept and become a local brand.
\nThe market now occupies a storefront at 431 Broadway since its construction in 2000. But it started five years earlier on Putnam Street. Owners Cathy Hamilton and her sister Gloria Griskowitz had envisioned a place where customers could buy fresh meats and seafood, deli meats and cheeses sliced to order, assorted produce and baked goods.
\n\u201cWe had sourced everything from a local bakery and caterer,\u201d said Hamilton.
\nSix months later, the partners started making sandwiches. During year three, they hired their first chef to do the baking and food production in-house. A wine store with the store was opened in 1998.
\n\u201cWe became the place to go for specialty groceries in the Capital District,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cBut when Roohan Realty built the building we are in now and we became the first tenant, we dropped produce to focus on food. Today we are known primarily for the stuff we make, which is totally opposite from where we started.\u201d
\n\u201cAll the baking, roasted turkey breast, and soups are original recipes made in-house from scratch,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cSo we turned from a straight retailer to a manufacturer of delicious sandwiches and baked goods.\u201d
\nShe said when wine was introduced at the original location, there was about 150 square feet of dedicated space. Today it\u2019s 1,800.
\n\u201cOur wines are distinctive,\u201d she said. Hamilton\u2019s husband William curates the selection.
\n\u201cThe wine room is a destination for people who know wine,\u201d she said.
\nThe partners again distinguished Putnam Market by adding a cheese room. Hamilton said they always had a cheese counter, but now feature a refrigerated \u201ccheese theater\u201d with a \u201ccharismatic and vivacious cheesemonger to engage customers.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy we do what we do is, nobody has to shop here. You have to park and walk and that takes some effort,\u201d said Hamilton. \u201cSo we must have some compelling things here that are particularly delicious or different.\u201d
\nPutnam Market\u2019s salad bar was a big part of their business before it was forced to close under state pandemic mandates, said Hamilton. They pre-package salads now.
\nWhen businesses were closed in April and May, Putnam Market focused on \u201ckeeping staff engaged and healthy,\u201d said Hamilton. No employees were let go because of the virus. Hamilton said they shuffled schedules somewhat and a few of the 26-person staff made the decision to stay home.
\n\u201cWe are doing well during the pandemic but the business doesn\u2019t have the same vibrancy as before,\u201d said Hamilton.
\nThe whole team celebrated the market\u2019s 25th anniversary on June 30 accompanied by members of the Chamber, Discover Saratoga, Adirondack Trust and other foundational organizations, she said.
\n\u201cIt was subdued but great,\u201d said Hamilton. \u201cThere was a ribbon cutting and cake, and one of our customers, who is a virtuoso banjo player came and played all day.. Twenty-five years is significant,\u201d
\nA year ago the market obtained a license to sell wine for consumption in the shop. Hamilton said that would allow them to do tastings with cheese pairings.
\n\u201cWhen customers can reconvene and taste our wine and cheese without a mask, it will be fun,\u201d she said.
\nPutnam Market is gearing up now for holiday meals, gifts and events, which typically pull in 50 percent more sales dollars than August during racing season does. Hamilton expects fewer parties this season. They will cater office lunches and prepare gift baskets.
\n\u201cWe do delicious,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cMy sister and our staff exchange recipes all the time but we have to think, are the ingredients cost effective, plus does it taste delicious?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Susan Elise Campbell A retrospective of Putnam Market\u2019s 25 years is a case study in how a business can evolve 180 degrees from the original concept and become a local brand. The market now occupies a storefront at 431 Broadway since its construction in 2000. But it started five years earlier on Putnam Street. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":35426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nPutnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Susan Elise Campbell A retrospective of Putnam Market\u2019s 25 years is a case study in how a business can evolve 180 degrees from the original concept and become a local brand. The market now occupies a storefront at 431 Broadway since its construction in 2000. But it started five years earlier on Putnam Street. […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-15T17:07:31+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-16T15:41:43+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1518\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1088\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jessewinters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/\",\"name\":\"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-15T17:07:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-16T15:41:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1088,\"caption\":\"Gloria Griskowitz, left, and Cathy Hamilton, are the owners of Putnam Market. \u00a92020 Saratoga Photographer.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae\",\"name\":\"jessewinters\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jessewinters\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal","og_description":"By Susan Elise Campbell A retrospective of Putnam Market\u2019s 25 years is a case study in how a business can evolve 180 degrees from the original concept and become a local brand. The market now occupies a storefront at 431 Broadway since its construction in 2000. But it started five years earlier on Putnam Street. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/","og_site_name":"Saratoga Business Journal","article_published_time":"2020-10-15T17:07:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-16T15:41:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1518,"height":1088,"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"jessewinters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jessewinters","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/","name":"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years - Saratoga Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-15T17:07:31+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-16T15:41:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-hc.jpg","width":1518,"height":1088,"caption":"Gloria Griskowitz, left, and Cathy Hamilton, are the owners of Putnam Market. \u00a92020 Saratoga Photographer.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2020\/10\/putnam-market-marks-25-years-in-business-and-its-continued-evolution-over-the-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Putnam Market Marks 25 Years In Business And Its Continued Evolution Over The Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/","name":"Saratoga Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/b937a48daf87d7a8bd713a73b5d6a1ae","name":"jessewinters","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e8be6b88bb90339e8bf3f66727dfded55218192d7b7fd01fe8e55608cc3a8f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jessewinters"},"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jessewinters\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35427,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35425\/revisions\/35427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}