Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
Lewis Supermarket on Burgoyne Avenue in Hudson Falls is closing.
“I broke the news to our employees this morning,” owner Em Lewis told The Chronicle Tuesday. He operates the store with his wife Debbie. He said Wednesday, Sept. 4, will be the store’s last day.
Mr. Lewis’s late parents Em and Peg started Lewis Super in 1949. It’s one of the region’s last independent supermarkets.
“I’ve started marking down dry goods 25 to 50% off, and will continue to do that on items that don’t move as fast,” he said.
“We will continue to sell fresh meats and deli right through to the end, and I’ll leave the equipment in place until probably January 1st in case someone wants to buy it and run it as a store.”
Earlier this month, The Chronicle broke the news that the 1.79-acre property at 2358 Burgoyne Avenue was up for sale for $295,000. It includes the 10,226-square-foot Lewis Super building and a smaller building next door that houses a consignment shop. It has 237 feet of road frontage.
Mr. Lewis says, “There are two interested parties. One is interested in the property, and one is interested in running it as a market….I’d love to be able to sell the store to someone who will keep it as a market.”
Bob Sears of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Blake has the listing.
As to closing Lewis Super, Mr. Lewis said, “I want to retire and do something else. I don’t want to do another Thanksgiving. I’d rather get out now.
“It’s hard. I like what I do. But it’s getting harder to do it seven days a week. We will miss the customers.”
Mr. Lewis said factors prompting him to end the business include a shortage of help, the state minimum wage hike, more chain competition and the recent sinkhole on Burgoyne Avenue disrupting traffic.
He said he’s proud that “we have donated more than a quarter-million dollars to this community over the last 12-15 years. We don’t put out a press release. We just wanted to give back to the community that has been so good to us.
Mr. Lewis said he’s looking forward to his annual Myrtle Beach golf trip in mid-September with a group of friends.
“We’ve been doing that for 10 years now, and this year I won’t be getting phone calls,” he said, laughing.
“We’ll chase [musician] John Waite a little bit, and hope to winter in Florida. I’m tired of snowblowing and shoveling.”
Mr. Lewis has personally brought Mr. Waite, the Englishman who was lead singer for The Babys and Bad English, here to perform private concerts.
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