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North Adams Saw Businesses Come and Go Over Past Year

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The downtown has had quite a few changes over the past year, with several shops closing, a few relocating and even some new businesses opening.

The latest is a branch of investor group Edward Jones being operated by Ryley C. Gaudreau at 71 Main St. Gaudreau was approved for a special permit to operate a professional office from the Planning Board on Monday night.

Gaudreau had been operating out of the Edward Jones office in Berkshire Square in Adams; that office continues under Karen L. Kettles. According to the company's Web site, the Adams and North Adams locations are the only branches in Berkshire County; the next closest offices are in Bennington, Vt., and Greenfield.
 

Top: Mardi Gras beads are available at the Party Place on Eagle Street. Above, the former IO Gallery will house Edward Jones Investment; below, I Got Goodies at 85 Main St. and, bottom, Klipper Kingz opened on Eagle Street.
He will move next door to Jarvis Rockwell's work "Maya III" on Main Street, in the office space vacated by IO Digital Services and Gallery last fall. Owner Jason Morin Sr. had tried to combine his Internet business with the city's burgeoning art scene but wasn't able to make a go of it in that location despite several well-attended gallery openings. Morin is still busily working in the digital production field, however, and can be contacted through his Web site.

Dragonflii Clothing Co. owner Timothy Lanfair also called it quits recently after moving his clothing and accessory store from the Flat Iron Building on Eagle Street into a smaller space across the street.

Lanfair had had great hopes for the space but saw foot traffic drop off precipitously and closed abruptly.

A home accessory shop, A&M Decor, opened briefly last spring in the Flat Iron Building next to Dragonflii.

A children's clothing store, Kids ... Deals, also opened for only a few months in the L-Shaped Mall. We're not sure when exactly it closed, but it didn't make through the fall.

On a brighter note, several businesses have opened or expanded, including two shops bent on making their customers look their best. Pamela Bissaillon and Kim Oakes moved their Shear Madness salon from Adams to 81 Main St. in July; an old barbershop reopened as Klipper Kingz in November with three new tonsorial experts — Christopher Barton, Michael Stubbs and Corey Joiner.


Klipper Kingz is on Eagle Street in the former Norm's Barbershop, which operated at that location for 34 years. The new barbers say their shop's name comes from a desire to treat their customers like royalty.

Relocating to bigger quarters were I Got Goodies, which proprietor and candy maker Janice L. Esoldi had been operating out of Moulton's General Store. Esoldi moved into a vacant space at 85 Main St. last month. (We don't recall what was in there. Anybody?)

The Party Place moved into one of the two venerable bakers that have closed: Molly's Bakery (which closed last year) and Neville's Donuts. Now operated solely by Manna Mason, the Party Place moved into Molly's on Eagle Street in December. "It's a great location," said Mason, who added foot traffic has definitely picked up since the move from Ashland Street.

The Neville's building on North Eagle Street has space for four operations, including the newly moved-in Pooches dog grooming salon that had operated on Holden Street until last year.

Two restaurants went under but new ones have opened in the place. The Hub opened at 55 Main St. last spring in the former Milan at 55 (and long before that, the popular Capitol Restaurant) under owners Kate and Matthew Schilling.

Steeples in the Holiday Inn shuttered abruptly more than a year ago when financially overstretched owner Daniel Borer fell afoul of foreclosures. It recently reopened as the Richmond Grill under chef Drew Nicastro, owner of Isabella's.

Also new is the Elf Parlor, a coffeehouse just opened on Ashland Street across from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Townhouses; Label Shopper in the L-Shaped Mall (replacing Fashion Bug); the Registry of Motor Vehicles office in the former Roberts Co. building; TGL Photoworks on Holden Street; Christo's Famous Pizza (which replaced North Adams Pizza Co.), and the Alley, which opened in the former EGL (Gideon's Nightery) on Eagle Street.

No doubt we missed somebody in all this moving around. Oh yeah, Planet Fitness opened in the former Kmart building and Domino's in the former ... Domino's; and Berkshires Best closed. If we've bypassed a change in downtown business, let us know.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.

The defendant is being arraigned for:

  • Domestic Assault and Battery
  • Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
  • Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
  • Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)

According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.

She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.

Officers believed that Parker was armed.

To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.

Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.

Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.

Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.

Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.

A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.

During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.

"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said.  "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."

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