News/Business

Bottom Line: As Walmart greeters see a rollback, security gates roll in in Lebanon

By JOHN LIPPMAN

For decades, Walmart had a hokey-but-warm tradition of greeting customers at the front door.The greeters have been phased out. Now the gates are being phased in.In a sign of our insecure times, Walmart’s West Lebanon store wants to install electronic...

Bottom Line: Airbnb makes more money in Vermont than maple syrup does

By JOHN LIPPMAN

Call it a healthy sign in how digital technology is reshaping Vermont’s economy. Or call it another dispiriting example in how making a real product just doesn’t count as much anymore.Either way, I don’t see it as something to cheer about.Airbnb is...

Lindt Chocolate store in West Lebanon to close

By JOHN LIPPMAN

WEST LEBANON — The Lindt Chocolate Shop off Route 12A will close on Jan. 29.Sarah Luhmann, property manager at Powerhouse Mall, said Lindt’s closing coincides with the store’s lease expiring at the end of the month.Stratham, N.H.-based Lindt &...

Simon Pearce buys Parker House in Quechee

By JOHN LIPPMAN

QUECHEE — The Parker House has come home again.Simon Pearce — the Vermont glassware and pottery maker and restaurateur — has purchased Parker House inn, the restaurant and bed and breakfast adjacent to its showroom and restaurant on Quechee Main...

Hanover shows signs of accommodating short-term rentals

by JOHN LIPPMAN

HANOVER — In Hanover you can order a ride on Uber, pay the parking meter with a ParkMobile app, and have groceries delivered via Instacart.What you can’t do in Hanover is list your home for rent on Airbnb or related short-term rental websites, an...

Bottom Line: Sharon general store being sold to Vermont convenience chain

By JOHN LIPPMAN

It is, White River Valley residents attest, a small country store. And yet, as an august statesman said of another beloved local institution, there are those who love it.Sharon residents are talking about the Sharon Trading Post, the general store and...

Bottom Line: White River Hyundai site to become used-car lot

By JOHN LIPPMAN

The nearly empty lot of cars at White River Hyundai on Sykes Mountain Avenue in White River Junction has had people wondering what’s up with the auto dealership.Now we know.Owner Rick MacLeay had been mum on the subject but last week disclosed to me...

Bottom Line: West Lebanon Kmart the one blue light still shining in northern New England

By JOHN LIPPMAN

The Kmart store in West Lebanon might not seem special, but it has a singular status.With the recent announcement about stores slated for closing, the Kmart on Route 12A in West Lebanon will soon be the sole remaining Kmart in New Hampshire, Vermont...

Bottom Line: New WNTK radio host aims to bring less volatile voice than his predecessor

By JOHN LIPPMAN

A familiar voice is returning to Upper Valley radio and he’s already sounding different from the guy he is replacing.And I’m not talking about their speaking styles.Jason Place, who at one time or another has worked at nearly every radio station in...

Dartmouth College joins fight against Hanover property assessments

By JOHN LIPPMAN

HANOVER — An 800-pound gorilla has weighed in on Hanover’s property assessment controversy, providing new ammunition to critics who argue the town’s 2018 revaluation was riddled with faulty calculations that confusingly raised some homeowners’...

Bottom Line: Brain behind Quechee Gorge Village made his own happiest place on Earth

By JOHN LIPPMAN

Hokey, kitschy and hopelessly sentimental, Quechee Gorge Village may be the closest thing the Upper Valley has to Disneyland, and its longtime impresario, Gary Neil, is the nearest showman that Upper Valley has to Roy Disney.Neil, a retail maven who...

Ruger estate sells for fraction of list price

By PATRICK O’GRADY

NEWPORT — The North Newport estate of former gunmaker William B. Ruger Jr. sold for just under $613,000 last month, according to property records, far below the $2.5 million list price for the restored home prior to the auction.One of the owners of...

Bottom Line: Upper Valley barber opens new shop in Hanover, specializing in black hair

By JOHN LIPPMAN

Two days after Sean Taylor opened his new barbershop in Hanover, customer appointments for haircuts already were double-booked, thanks to a glitch in the online software program.Taylor has been a barber in the Upper Valley for only four years. But in...

Ill will in the mill: Tenant infighting, money woes put Bridgewater Mill building on the block

By JOHN LIPPMAN

The Bridgewater Mill has survived fire, the collapse of New England’s manufacturing economy, at least two devastating floods, insolvency and a misguided attempt to turn it into a shopping mall.Now it faces a new existential threat: warring tenants who...

Bottom Line: Massive Quechee Lakes parcel going on the market

By JOHN LIPPMAN

In the market for a condo at Quechee Lakes? Well, we’ve got a place for you: 640 acres of pristine, forested land. And it can be all yours for $4.5 million.Taurus Investment Holdings, a Boston real estate company, is exiting its investment in Quechee...

People in Business for Sunday, Aug. 25

Gayle Schafer has joined the team of independent school and college guidance counselors at Matlack Educational Consulting as an admissions specialist.Schafer, an Eastman resident, previously worked in the admissions and financial aid office at...

The Bottom Line: Reckoning in Germany sheds light on Upper Valley foundation

By JOHN LIPPMAN

Emily Landecker’s name is not a familiar one in the Upper Valley, and the legacy established in her honor has been shrouded in secrecy.But the Emily Landecker Foundation has had a profound impact in the region as the source of funding for the Upper...

Montcalm golf course sold to West Lebanon native

By JOHN LIPPMAN

ENFIELD — The Montcalm Golf Club has changed hands for the second time in less than a year after a West Lebanon native and his wife who owned half the property acquired the remaining 50% interest.Chuck Currier, a 1970 Lebanon High School graduate and...

Lebanon tech startup sold for $79 million

By JOHN LIPPMAN

LEBANON — A 5½-year-old Upper Valley digital startup that has become a major player in helping national employers find job candidates has sold a majority stake in the company to a German media giant for $79 million.Appcast, which employs 30 people at...

Dry cleaner to open store in former Kleen site in Hanover

By JOHN LIPPMAN

HANOVER — The dry spell in Upper Valley dry cleaning should soon be over.New London Cleaners will replace the former Kleen dry cleaners on Lebanon Street in Hanover across from the Black Family Visual Arts Center, filling the need for a dry cleaner...