# Saranac Lake Community Store

The first & only community-owned department store in the Northeast

## Elevator pitch
We are a small, independent department store in downtown Saranac Lake, NY. In 7 strong years of business, we've focused on selling apparel for all family members, home essentials (tabletop, kitchen, linens, bathroom, etc.), crafts, yarns, locally made products, local interest books, and more to the residents and visitors of our beautiful town.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/saranac.lake.community.store
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:23600
- Last updated: 2026-07-10T05:00:13Z
- Generated at: 2026-07-10T10:26:31Z

## Quick facts
- Raised $541k from 750 NY State residents during the financial crisis.
- Featured story on front page of the NY Times' Sunday Business Section on Nov. 12, 2011 and in their daily video coverage.
- Have established ourselves as a vital resource to the community by meeting the needs of local residents and organizations.
- Signed up 1,800 people for our Customer Rewards Program since May 2017, plus 500 more in our Yarn Club.
- Established ourselves as the source of a wide selection of locally produced products that already generate $50k in annual revenues.
- Our customer conversion rate (the percent of those who buy once they enter) is more than 40%, very high for a brick and mortar store.
- Opened our doors in Oct. 2011 after a largely volunteer-driven renovation of a 4,000 square foot former restaurant.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:17176: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## FAQ
1. **Why aren't all the original investors listed?**
   - Hi Beryl: Thanks for your question. They're not listed because this is a separate offering that's been filed with the SEC. I hope that makes sense. Let me know if you'd like to talk more about it. Melinda
2. **Can you reveal a little more about the rebranding campaign you alluded to? I am very interested in investing, but it's hard to identify whether your target market is the local community or tourists. Much of what I see on the video (low prices, layout, building facade, design o...**
   - Hi Thomas: Thanks a million for your interest and your thoughtful question that clearly identifies the need to refine our brand. Given our market and demographics, we actually need to appeal both to tourists and local shoppers. Tourism drives our economy in the summertime but for the rest of the year, it’s the local population that our downtown merchants depend on. The e-commerce dimension, focused on local products, will allow us to appeal year-round to tourists and seasonal residents who ha...
3. **Several questions; So you guys are the Green Bay Packers of Sarnac Lake Stores? You state you received funding during the recession, the last big recession was appx. 2008-2010, you've been open since 2011, I am not sure which recession since then you are referring to? As far a...**
   - Hi Joseph: Thanks for your questions. In regards to the recession question, we opened the offering for our first raise of $541,700 in July, 2007 and completed that offering at the end of 2011 just after we opened the Store so our raise did span this last recession. The money we raise in this offering will be used for a rebranding effort, the establishment of an e-commerce site, and the development of an exclusive product line. Our e-commerce site will be focused on local products rather than ...

## Team
- Melinda Little (Founding Board Member and President)

## Recent posts
- Updates Re: The Community Store Campaign, Branding & More (2018-10-04T19:44:52Z)
- Why I live in Saranac Lake | Saranac Lake, Adirondacks (2018-08-22T15:14:08Z)
- Saranac Lake lands $10 million grant to revitalize downtown (2018-08-08T16:54:25Z)
- Spotlight on Artisan Peter Katz (2018-07-17T18:36:09Z)
- Spotlight on Earth Girl Designs (2018-07-02T20:44:16Z)
- Spotlight On Birch Boys Adirondack Chaga (2018-06-17T21:35:18Z)
- Meet Our Cheerleaders (2018-06-12T17:19:00Z)
- Our campaign is now officially public. I hope you'll check out the article in the Adk Daily Enterprise (2018-06-04T21:01:48Z)
- Here's a sneak preview.... (2018-05-29T01:02:49Z)
- A Big Thank You to our Early Investors! (2018-05-23T12:44:53Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Can we please have an update on how our investment is doing?
- Q: What is the status of the Wefunder campaign? Can we add to our initial investment? If campaign closed, when will we see our ROI?
- Q: How may I get a refund for my investment
- Q: Several questions; So you guys are the Green Bay Packers of Sarnac Lake Stores? You state you received funding during the recession, the last big recession was appx. 2008-2010, you've been open since 2011, I am not sure which recession since then you are referring to? As far as your numbers of not being profitable you are stating you think an e-commerce store will get you there? To go up against Amazon, WalMart, Ebay? Is that what you will use the money for to build an e-commerce site? As far as your perks an invester at $X amount can get a bag of hand selected products per year, whose hand picks them out, yours or ours, and how do we receive them, shipped or local pick up only if we are out of state investors?
  - A: Hi Joseph: Thanks for your questions. In regards to the recession question, we opened the offering for our first raise of $541,700 in July, 2007 and completed that offering at the end of 2011 just after we opened the Store so our raise did span this last recession. The money we raise in this offering will be used for a rebranding effort, the establishment of an e-commerce site, and the development of an exclusive product line. Our e-commerce site will be focused on local products rather than on the commodity-type products on Amazon, etc. We already know there's a market for those products as we sell some of them at The Community Store already. We will be picking the products in the goody box (similar to the bark box approach) and will do our best to provide a good mix of the local products we'll be offering on the e-commerce site. Each box will be shipped to the investors, wherever they live. Hope this helps. Thanks a million for your interest.
- Q: Can you reveal a little more about the rebranding campaign you alluded to? I am very interested in investing, but it's hard to identify whether your target market is the local community or tourists. Much of what I see on the video (low prices, layout, building facade, design of the actual store sign & logo) almost screams "thrift shop," while tourists and summer people - who I assume would be the target of the e-commerce campaign - are usually attracted to a more high-end image (akin to the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, VT.) Not trying to be critical, just not seeing a clear brand here...
  - A: Hi Thomas: Thanks a million for your interest and your thoughtful question that clearly identifies the need to refine our brand. Given our market and demographics, we actually need to appeal both to tourists and local shoppers. Tourism drives our economy in the summertime but for the rest of the year, it’s the local population that our downtown merchants depend on. The e-commerce dimension, focused on local products, will allow us to appeal year-round to tourists and seasonal residents who have a strong affinity to Saranac Lake and the region as a whole. Everything we carry at the Store is new. Our merchandising strategy has always been focused on carrying a number of quality, core lines such as Wrangler jeans, Wigwam socks, Ruby Road apparel, Minnetonka sandals and Hanes underwear (to name only a few) that people can rely on finding at The Community Store. We keep everything fresh by mixing in what we call “opportunistic buys” which are other branded items brought in on a seasonal basis, and typically deeply discounted by our suppliers due to seasonal shifts. In addition to apparel, we have a full range of craft and art supplies, home essentials (ie. kitchen, tabletop, bedding, etc.) and a robust selection of locally produced goods and gifts. When we opened almost 7 years ago, our story was very clear. We were (and still are) the first community-owned department store in NYS and that was enough. But we’re now at a point in our development that requires us to step it up, by creating a consistent brand – not only a message but also a look - that speaks more to the young professionals and families who are settling in Saranac Lake or simply just visiting and to the authentic nature of our Village and its somewhat urban flair.
- Q: Why aren't all the original investors listed?
  - A: Hi Beryl: Thanks for your question. They're not listed because this is a separate offering that's been filed with the SEC. I hope that makes sense. Let me know if you'd like to talk more about it. Melinda