By Shelley Brienza

Opening just before Christmas 2007, Logan’s Country Gallery and Florist, located at 207 Bleecker St. in the city of Gloversville, is going to be more than just another florist or gift shop. I spoke with the owner, Lisa Ann DiCaterino- Snyder, and she said, “We are going to be more than just that. We are going to have a bakery part, on a small scale. We will not be doing any kind of wedding cakes but we will have pastries and some organic things like organic produce in the summertime, annuals and perennials, hanging baskets and pots. All of those specialty organic things like soy candles, maybe some kind of organic kitchen towels, grown from organic cottons. We will have the regular stuff as well but would like to concentrate on that. We do not want to be just the run of the mill flower shop. We want to be different. In the summertime, we want to have a lot of tables that will be outside, a lot of plants, kind of a European type. The back of our building goes to the Rail Trail, there is a hill that slopes down, and we are going to finish the back half as it is not sided yet. The back is all weeds and trees and this summer we are going to clear it all out and do some nice landscaping back there and get some other people along the trail and just have them do some landscaping as well and make it really nice so people can feel comfortable walking around here. There are some really beautiful houses on this street.”

Her husband Mr. Snyder, who also helps run the store said “The thing is now is that people are coming from the cities because they realize all the stuff that are in these cities. I have a neighbor who moved up here from the city and him and his wife wanted something more relaxing and kind of set back instead of all that ‘beep-beep’ and they came up here. In Gloversville right now, there are a lot of groups that are looking to make Gloversville come back on the map. Years ago like in the 40’s we were like the flagship of Fulton County. Now we have no town that is really a leader of Fulton County. Instead of being a leader, I think we need to be a participant within our counties. And that is why I joined the 20/20 group to see where we can meet and improve our city.”

They’ve converted the front of a house on Bleecker St. into a little showroom and are gradually filling it up in there and then in the back they’ve put a cooler out there and they are going to offer some imported wines from France. They’ve got to apply for a liquor license but they said unfortunately what they do are gift baskets but they can’t deliver gift baskets at this time with the wine in them because it’s called transporting alcohol, but they said actually a bill passed right now which is for doing just that. Mr. Snyder has a cousin that lives overseas and is going to send them some French wines and things like that. In addition, in the back, they are going to have a small bakery doing things like canoli’s and a whole bunch of different things. Lisa DiCaterino-Snyder is half-Italian and so is her husband’s Aunt but they actually have family who were in the florist business a few generations back. Lisa has also worked for a florist a while back and basically they said they just wanted something that would allow them to spend more time with each other. They have a three and half-year-old son named Logan and that is where the name for the store Logan’s came from. They expect that they will do a grand opening around Mother’s Day. Mr. Snyder said, “We just made a decision that we were just out to make a living, not to get rich off this. Like we are doing a dozen roses for $35 whereas some other places are doing them for $55. I love Gloversville. Some people might think that we are a small town in a recession but actually I am in the group 20/20 and we are trying to rehash what made Gloversville back in the 1930’s… trying to make it somewhat of a stature for it. There is a lot of work that has to be done but you know something? We figured that if we bought an old building and started putting work into it, it would make a little bit of a difference and clean up an area as it is livening it back up again. So in the springtime we are actually going to donate some flower baskets to all the shops around here.”

They are even going to take this a bit further and donate flowers to all the Fulton County infirmaries or adult homes to help the people who have to live there feel that some sort of dignity is left in them. They are not being forgotten just because they have had to move into the infirmaries. Mr. Snyder said that he was told that out of all the people who live in the infirmary only 25% of them actually receive visitors on a regular basis. This way they feel like they can make a difference and are a little bit different in the way that they conduct their own business. “We want to give back to the community instead of taking something from it”, he said. He talked about how Gloversville welcomes the big businesses but they will still show support for the small business owner.

It is really important for the owners of Logan’s to give back to the community and one way they feel that they can do this is by starting to sell organic products like organic plants as they feel that is the new wave of the future which has already begun today. To keep with the vision of giving back to the community, they intend on having a little café within the florist and a gift shop and to sell coffee but not for the regular going price around here of $1.50 for a large cup of coffee. They will only charge 50 cents. The coffee beans come over from France as to adhere to being a little bit different.

Their hours are from Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00pm, and on Saturdays, they said they are still getting themselves opened up but will still be opened. For more information please call them at: 518-752-5724, and if they don’t answer the phone during business hours it is transferred over to their business cell phone where they can still get the messages or in case you are a funeral home calling. Also you can visit Logan’s online at: www.loganscountrygallery.com . So be sure to check out this new local business and say hello to the Snyder’s and little Logan himself. This is a great addition to our local business community.