Letter: New Name for Apkin

To the Editor:

George Apkin & Sons Inc., would like to share with you some exciting news about our company. We have been working on a strategic plan to ensure that we will be able to continue servicing all our industrial and dealer customers seamlessly for the long term. To ensure that success, we have recently partnered with the Joseph Freedman Co. in Springfield and its affiliates, Perlman Recycling in Pittsfield and Eastern Vehicle Recycling in Westfield.

We are very excited for the depth that this partnership brings. They have a long history dating back 132 years, a great reputation, a professional and friendly team, and a full suite of metal recycling services to further complement our operations.

The only real change will be a small name change to: Apkin Inc. All of our employees in Adams are staying onboard in their current positions, and both of us (Joe Apkin and Bill Apkin) will be staying on as well. Joe Apkin will be leading the company as president, and Bill Apkin will be staying onboard in an advisory role. Sally Cable and Cindi McLain will remain in the office for anything you need.

We appreciate the community that we work with, and it is important to us that we sustain the reputaton and the standing that we have built. To ensure that, we have worked trelessly to make sure that we have partnered with a company that shares our values. We are confident that you will not be disappointed by the transiton.

Thank you to all who have supported us through the years, we look forward to a new chapter.

Joe & Bill Apkin, the Apkin Team
Adams,Mass. 

From Empty Storefronts to New Opportunities, Park Street Eyes a Comeback

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:07AM / Tuesday, August 25, 2026

The latest Park Street sale is the 1890 Carlow building, a Queen Ann flatiron, purchased this past spring. The former owners ran Coffee Liberation Front until retiring. 

ADAMS, Mass. — For several years, Park Street has seen a steady stream of businesses open their doors, only to close again after brief operations. Now, some are hopeful of a new beginning, with new businesses bringing fresh energy to the area.

 

Some residents can remember a time when people walked the streets of downtown Adams to shop or eat, whether it was getting your photo taken at Smith Studio, shopping at Schiff Clothing or Groves & Co. Women Apparel, or having lunch or ice cream at The Crest. 

 

Over time, storefronts closed, and the once-bustling street grew quieter, with fewer people on the sidewalks and parking spaces sitting empty.

 

Adams is a very walkable town, said Glen Diehl, who sits on ProAdams Board of Directors.  

 

Diehl highlighted ProAdams' destinations map that sits at the corner of Park Street and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. 

 

The town needs restaurants and businesses he said, and as more move in the nonprofit will update the map. 

 

Small-town retail corridors face challenges from the shift to online shopping and the high cost of renovating historic buildings to meet modern codes, real estate agent Jeffrey Loholdt of Engel and Volkers Wellesley.