Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Tags: Waterworks , Winooski , COVID-19 , regulations , closure , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Jason Lin of Burlington purchased the building at 160 North Winooski Ave. a year ago. He told Seven Days on Tuesday that he plans to renovate and upgrade the structure, and perhaps open his own business at the site of the market.
Tags: Mawuhi African Market , Burlington , Old North End , North End Studios , relocate , Web Only , Image
Thursday, October 29, 2020
The new store is about half the size of the South Burlington location, or 18,000 square feet, according to Nina Lesser-Goldsmith, who owns the business with her mother, founder Katy Lesser, and brother, Eli Lesser-Goldsmith. The Williston store offers the same product categories and departments as the original outlet, Nina Lesser-Goldsmith explained, but with a smaller selection of items within the departments. The new store employs 65 people.
“We’ve always wanted to expand our footprint in our home community,” she said. “For a long time, we didn’t think we could make people happy with a store that was smaller than our first [one]. But smaller stores that support smaller communities are what people want.”
The café in the Williston store is the most beautiful and prominent aspect of the site, Lesser-Goldsmith noted.
Café service has been modified for COVID-19, with adaptations that include salads made-to-order by a staffer rather than as a self-service food bar. Seating will be available inside and outside when the mask mandate is no longer in effect, according to Lesser-Goldsmith.
“We can’t in good conscience allow people to unmask in the store and consume food” at a business that provides an essential service, she said.
Healthy Living is launching a prepared foods/deli/café program, HL Fresh, under the direction of chef Matt Jennings. Offerings will include meals that are ready to be cooked at home, meals ready to eat (without cooking), and rotating daily specials, Lesser-Goldsmith said.
“People are really relying on grocery stores [during the pandemic], and we’re happy and proud to be able to serve so many people so well,” she added.
“It’s the hardest success I’ve ever had,” Lesser-Goldsmith continued. “My staff are absolutely heroes. They come to work every day. They’re brave. They face all kinds of people. They do it with a smile, and I could not be more grateful to them.”
Healthy Living in Williston is open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to the two Vermont locations, the business that Lesser started in 1986 has a branch in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
"Vermont is our home and we love it here," Lesser-Goldsmith said. "And we're so proud to create 65 new jobs in this community and serve a wider audience of customer."
Tags: Healthy Living Market & Cafe , Williston , shopping , South Burlington , grocery , Web Only , Image
Friday, July 17, 2020
Ross founded Tonewood Maple in the Mad River Valley in 2012 during the 25 years the Canadian native lived in the U.S. In 2017, Ross, her husband and their three children decided to move from Vermont back to Canada.
Tags: Tonewood Maple , maple , sugaring , U.S.-Canadian border , COVID-19 , border closure , Web Only , Image
Thursday, July 16, 2020
Broker Paul Carroccio of TPW Real Estate's Manchester office said he already has a trio of solid prospects among many calls of interest.
Tags: diners , Blue Benn Diner , Sonny's Blue Benn Diner , Bennington , for sale , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 13, 2020
The initiative was designed to provide free meals to restaurant workers, musicians and other Vermonters who lost their jobs during the pandemic and were in need of food assistance.
ShiftMeals then formed a partnership with the Vermont Foodbank to expand its reach. The program currently has 18 distribution sites around the state and has provided 50,000 meals to Vermonters in need, with a goal of distributing 100,000 meals by year's end, according to ShiftMeals director Jean Hamilton.
Now ShiftMeals is serving as a model for a statewide initiative, backed by $5 million in government funding, in which restaurants around the state will use their facilities and employees to help feed Vermonters who are experiencing food insecurity. The new program, called Everyone Eats, was announced Monday morning at a press conference outside the Skinny Pancake’s Lake Street restaurant in Burlington.
Tags: CARES funding , COVD-19 relief , Skinny Pancake , ShiftMeals , Vermont Foodbank , Everyone Eats , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
"We put everything we had into creating and growing ArtsRiot over the years, but our time has come to move on and we are excited to hand the reins over to Alan," Wai, McHenry and Lambertson wrote in the release.
Tags: ArtsRiot , Alan Newman , South End Arts District , Burlington , nightclub , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Vermonters who post a photo of themselves on social media wearing a mask outside a local retailer with the tag #maskforthewin will be entered in a weekly prize giveaway. The organization represents about 800 retailers in Vermont, as well as another 250 suppliers to the industry.
Tags: masks , face coverings , retail , grocers , Vermont Retail & Grocers Association , COVID-19 , Cheese & Wine Traders , Web Only , Image
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Jackie Oktay has been busy homeschooling her kids, converting two restaurants to takeout businesses, and keeping 40 people employed. So she missed the news on Wednesday that restaurants could open for outdoor dining on Friday. They'd been ordered to stay closed for two months as part of the state's effort to rein in the coronavirus.
Oktay, co-owner of Istanbul Kebab House in Burlington and Tuckerbox in White River Junction, found out Thursday morning that restaurants got the green light.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’ ‘’ Oktay said by telephone Thursday afternoon. “The wheels start turning: What the heck do I have to do now?”
Tags: restaurants , COVD-19 , dining out , Burlington , Vermont , takeout , Web Only , Image
Friday, May 8, 2020
Two problems in Vermont — food insecurity and dairy surplus — converged Friday afternoon in a St. Albans parking lot, where Franklin County farmers gave away 2,500 gallons of milk to a steady stream of Vermonters.
“We come from a lot of generations of dairy farmers up here in Franklin County, and we love our community so much,” said Meghan St. Pierre, 26, of Pleasant Valley Farms. “A lot of folks are struggling right now.”
Tags: Vermont dairy farms , COVID-19 , St. Albans Cooperative Creamery , food insecurity , food giveaway , agriculture , community , Pleasant Valley Farms , Dairy Farmers of America , Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance , Web Only , Image