Letter: Supermarket Package License Would Affect Small Business

To the Editor:

I am writing this letter in response to a recent article on iberkshires.com ("Pot Shop Proposes Moving Into Adams Oasis Property" June 8). While the headline would lead one to believe that the most significant information in this story would be the opening of a marijuana store in the Oasis building in Adams, the article covers a far more complex topic. In this article we learn that the Adam's Hometown Market has requested a license to carry beer and wine, in addition to the request from Holistic Health Inc. to obtain a permit for a pot shop.

I support a new business opening in Adams and believe that it would generate much-needed business and revenue for the town. What I do not support is the request from the Adam's supermarket chain to carry beer and wine. There is far too little entrepreneurship in Adams as it is and cannibalizing small business will only exacerbate this issue. It is true that a business must be profitable to sustain. I believe that chain stores and corporations have strict guidelines that limit their ability to be flexible and creatively provide products to customers to help them survive in smaller communities.

While there are many who support the Adam's Hometown Market, they also seek to keep their individual expenses down so having the Super Walmart just over the town line with North Adams has made it difficult for the store to compete. Being able to get groceries at later hours and lower cost has reduced the sales of the smaller store and I believe this was a major factor in why Big Y was unable to sustain its business in the town.

Adam's Hometown Market's request would essentially create for the small-business owners the same situation that Walmart has created for the supermarket. I care greatly for this town and I think it is important that the grocery store thrives but not at the expense of other established local businesses within the Adams community.

Elizabeth LeSage
Adams, Mass.

New Clothing Thrift Store Opens in Adams

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:04AM / Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Carlo is honoring her late partner, Tom Bradley, who loved to thrift with her.

ADAMS, Mass. — Trisha Carlo took the leap to turn her online secondhand clothing business into a storefront on Summer Street. And named it in tribute to a loved one. 

 

Two T's Thrifting stands for Trisha and her late partner, Tom Bradley, who died in 2022. 

 

"We loved thrifting together, so I thought it was a way that I could honor him, and then also a way I could give back to the community," she said. 

 

Carlo has been selling clothes she's thrifted from her Facebook page for the past couple of years. She found the building at 64 Summer St. about two months ago and opened on Jan. 11.

 

"There's not many stores here. And I figured being downtown like this, people could walk in, especially in the summertime," she said. "I know there's a ton of people in the area that love to thrift so I thought this would be a really good idea for Adams."

 

Carlo also wants to make an impact on the community, donating clothing to children in foster care, unhoused people, and those who have lost their belongings, such as in a fire.

 

High school students sometimes do their community service hours with her, packing clothes bags for these individuals.