Hartland
The Lebanon-based company, founded by Ed Kerrigan in 1996 and acquired earlier this year by Kerrigan’s long-time No. 2, Bruce Bergeron, is acquiring Mike’s Store & Deli in Hartland from owner Mike Pierce.
Pierce and his daughter, Lindsey Pierce, will continue to be involved in the management of the Hartland store in addition to Mike Pierce taking on a companywide role at Jake’s in helping Bergeron’s manage the company’s nine other locations in New Hampshire and Vermont.
At the same time, Jake’s will close its White River Junction store near the VA Medical Center on Oct. 31 because Irving Oil has decided not to invest in installing new underground gas tanks that are due for replacement under federal and state regulations, according to Bergeron.
“I want to stress that nothing is wrong with the tanks,” Bergeron said in response to speculation made in online comments about reasons for the store’s closing. “They are just due to be replaced, and once we knew Irving wasn’t going to do it, we decided to close the store.”
Bergeron said the cost of installing new underground gas tanks could “easily” exceed $250,000. The high cost of tank replacement also was cited recently by the owner of Coniston General Store in Croydon as the reason for discontinuing fuel sales.
The Jake’s location in White River Junction is part of an interwoven relationship among three parties, Bergeron explained.
The property is owned by the Molloy family, which sold its chain of FoodStop stores to Irving Oil in 2007. Irving leases the property from the Molloys. Jake’s, which took over operation of the store 10 years ago, subleases the space from Irving.
Brian Molloy said the closing of Jake’s is “not what I’d like to see but I have no say in the matter. They can do whatever they want to do.”
Molloy said the issue is between Irving Oil, which holds the primary lease on the property and Jake’s, which subleases space for the store from Irving. He declined to say when the primary lease with Irving Oil is set to expire.
Irving Oil did not respond to an email for comment on Friday.
Most of the White River Junction employees are expected to transfer to the Jake’s Market & Deli about a mile away on Route 14/Maple Street in Hartford, according to Bergeron.
“Mike and Lindsey (Pierce) have done a fantastic job with their store and are such a huge part of the community,” he said, expressing hope that all of the store’s 20-odd employees will stay on after the sale, expected to close by January.
Bergeron said he typically is wary about expanding across the river because of Vermont’s high gasoline, diesel and sales tax, but the Pierces have made their store an anchor in the Hartland community and run an unusually successful business.
In a signal indicating the strength of the store’s local reputation, Bergeron said it will continue to operate under the Mike’s Store name and not change to Jake’s, as Jake’s has done with the Georges Mills General Store and Walpole Village Market.
Manchester Businessman Buys Brown FurnitureIn West Lebanon
For the fourth time in its 78-year history, Brown Furniture in West Lebanon has a new owner.
Manchester businessman Brad Nelson has acquired the home furniture business, along with its sister store America’s Mattress, from Ron Gobeil, who ran the Interchange Drive concern for several years.
Gobeil bought the business from Phil Desmond, who had acquired it from the Brown family, which opened the store in 1940.
Brown Furniture and Allard’s Furniture in West Lebanon are the last two furniture stores remaining in the city after the closings of Bridgman’s and DeFelice Family Furniture.
Nelson, who previously worked in computer and telecommunications sales at GN Netcom’s Hello Direct subsidiary in Nashua, acknowledged that “furniture is a new endeavor for me” but said he’s excited about joining the Upper Valley business scene, which is what drew him to Brown Furniture.
“Oddly enough, it wasn’t about the product we sell,” Nelson said. “It was the business community, the team of employees here in place wanting to stay in New Hampshire that brought me here. It met all the things I was looking for in the next step of my career.”
Brown’s has 15 employees, and America’s Mattress has two employees.
Nelson said he’ll look to expand Brown’s online business “but outside of that, it’s a great little business and doesn’t really need to change for today. We have a great sales, office, warehouse staff and a delivery team. We just need to keep moving forward and making sure it stays secure and is here for tomorrow.”
White River JunctionMcDonald’s Goes High-Tech
A little more than a week after the McDonald’s in Woodsville became the first in the Upper Valley to offer table service and in-store kiosks for self-ordering, the McDonald’s in White River Junction “went live” with similar high-tech innovations on Friday.
The White River Junction McDonald’s franchise is one of 12 in Vermont owned by The Napoli Group, an Amherst, N.H.-based concern that also has 32 McDonald’s locations in New Hampshire — including the perpetually busy restaurant in West Lebanon.
McDonald’s is currently undergoing a two-year program nationwide to renovate its locations around the country and introduce digital technology. The Illinois-based fast good giant announced it is spending $12 million to update 15 franchises in Vermont.
Larry Johnston, The Napoli Group’s “brand ambassador” who has been with the company 51 years and was the manager who opened the West Lebanon McDonald’s in 1971, said the large touch-screen kiosks are meant to increase in-store sales and provide speedier service for customers.
“This is a customer-friendly option for people coming to eat in the store,” Johnston said. “We want to eliminate congestion at the front counter.”
Customers order at the kiosk, pay with a card (cash has to be used at the counter), take a number and sit down at one of the tables. A few minutes later, a server brings the order to the table.
About 60 percent of the White River Junction McDonald’s sales occur at the drive-thru window, but Napoli Group has found the kiosks boost in-store sales by at least 10 percent and more once customers become accustomed to using them.
The two Napoli Group McDonald’s in White River Junction and West Lebanon together employ about 90 workers, with some alternating between the two locations, Johnston said. About one-third of the employees are full-time.
Betsy Dickerson, of Lebanon, is the general manager of the White River Junction location and has been with Napoli Group for 38 years, “except for four to five years when I had my kids,” she said.
Johnston said Napoli’s West Lebanon McDonald’s, the No. 2 franchise in New Hampshire after a location in Keene, is expected to introduce kiosks and table service in 2019.
“Remodeling there is a little more complex,” Johnston said.
John Lippman can be reached at jlippman@vnews.com.
News items of interest to the local business community are published in the Business & Money section of the Sunday Valley News. Submissions may be sent by email to: biznotes@vnews.com (high-resolution photographs may be attached in .jpg format). Items are edited for clarity and space.
