Dec 5, 2009

Lenox gift shop targets North St.By Dick LindsayBerkshireEagle.com

Pittsfield — A Lenox gift shop is the latest business outside of Pittsfield wanting in on the action of the city’s downtown revitalization.

The owners of the Lenox Old Country Store have temporarily opened “Emporium” at 431 North St., across from St. Joseph Church. If their second gift and boutique shop proves successful during the holiday shopping season, Bill and Carrie Wright expect it will become a permanent fixture.

If the decision is made to stay, the young married couple would have to move Emporium, which opened Thanksgiving weekend, since they only have a 30-day lease at the North Street location that expires Jan. 1. Nevertheless, the Wrights are confident of finding another available storefront.

“I just love North Street,” said Bill Wright. “Besides, we want to help create a great downtown.”

The Marketplace in Sheffield and Shiro Restaurant in Great Barrington also plan to open second eateries on North Street, in hopes of capitalizing on more consumers being drawn to the city’s center.

Wright and his wife Carrie bought the Lenox store in March 2007, after moving to Pittsfield with their two children from Connecticut in 2003. They began gravitating toward North Street four months ago, when Bill Wright relocated his photography studio from the family’s Pomeroy Avenue home to the Onota building. The couple next wanted to build upon their success in Lenox, by expanding to a rejuvenated downtown.

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