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The country store's new space offers an ice cream bar and indoor seating as well as a commercial kitchen for more food offerings.
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The store opened in 2020 as a space for local businesses to sell their wares. It has many different home items and food.
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Lanesborough Local Country Store Expanding

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— The Lanesborough Local Country Store is expanding into the space next door with plans to open at the beginning of August.

It's currently located at 20 Williamstown Road. However, when Berkshire Mantiques closed, the space on the other side of the complex became available. Owner Ana Bradbury took it as an opportunity for growth and started working on it in the fall. 

The store opened in 2020 to help give a space for local businesses to sell their wares. It has local and regionally produced items and gifts, wines, bakery, deli, ice cream and groceries. .

"We're really excited and grateful to have this opportunity," Bradbury said.

The business has received so much support from their loyal customers to their landlords, she said. "Our mission was to be a hub for local small businesses." 

With the end of the pandemic, came the openings of little kitchen businesses, handmade goods, and other sellers, she said. 

"We wanted to give them a place to sell. For us, it was kind of an eye-opener to see all of the existing Berkshire businesses that were around. I felt like there wasn't a lot of places that you could go and find them all together. So that's what we wanted to do," Bradbury said. 

The larger space will allow Bradbury to make her business into something she always wanted.

"This is what we envisioned it being years ago. So we're finally taking that chance."

The new building will be about double the size giving more freezer space, and a seating area, which is something people have been asking for.

"We just found that there's a want right in this particular area for sit-down seating. That's something that we're going to be adding," Bradbury said. 

"All of our customers are always asking if there's a place where they can sit and eat the sandwiches, or they can sit and eat the ice cream." 

The new space will have an ice cream bar with seating for people to enjoy a wide range of flavors including new ones, as well as a full commercial kitchen for more meal options.

In addition to the original deli sandwiches, store will be able to serve burgers and wings. 

Bradbury said there will more bakery items, such as cakes, and the gift shop will be adding more merchandise from across New England.

She also plans to expand on the events the store has been offering and wants to collaborate with nearby Jake's Java coffeeshop. 

She hopes that the larger space will provide a place where community can come together, hang out, enjoy their time.

"It's really gonna bring something to this side of Lanesborough, and give it more options, like a community space to sit down feeding," Bradbury said. 

The store is open daily from 10 to 6.


Tags: Business,   business changes,   

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Lanesborough Man Charged After Shots Fired From Baker St. Home

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— A man has been charged for allegedly drunkenly shooting from his Baker Street home on Saturday night. 

Aaron Pierce, 21, is facing multiple charges for allegedly shooting a gun near homes and a road while intoxicated.  Police said charges are pending for two other people in the home, who were not named. 

On Aug. 22, around 10:15 p.m., Lanesborough police responded to the area of 69 Baker Street for a report of shots fired.

As officers arrived, they reportedly heard a shot coming from the back of the home. The Massachusetts State Police, Pittsfield Police Department, and Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to the area for assistance. 

"The three occupants that were inside 69 Baker St eventually exited the residence without incident. It was later determined the occupants of the residence were intoxicated and discharging the firearm out the back door of the residence," LPD wrote in a press release on Monday. 

"Baker St is a residential neighborhood with several houses in the immediate area. The firearms and ammunition inside the residence were secured into evidence by the Lanesborough Police Department." 

The owner of the home and guns, Aaron Pierce, 21, was charged with 15 counts of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, discharging a firearm within 150 feet of a road, two counts of improper firearm storage, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, and disorderly conduct.  He had a License to Carry. 

Police said Pierce was held at the Berkshire County Jail on $1,000 bail and will be arraigned in District Court; a date was not provided. 

The LPD said additional charges are pending for the other occupants. 

This comes after a recent string of gun violence incidents in Pittsfield, just miles from where these shots were fired, and Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue formed a task force to take on the issue. 

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