SARATOGA SPRINGS — Alpine Sport Shop located at 399 Clinton St. in Saratoga Springs has been selected as one of the “Top Shops” in the Northeast by Freeskier magazine. One out of these 10 shops will be crowned topshopoftheNortheastandwill continue on as a contender to win the top shop in North America title.
The contest, which began a little after Thanksgiving, selected 10 ski shops in the Northeast; the top shop is selected based on how many votes they receive from the general public online through Freeskier’s website.
Alpine Sport Shop has been in business since 1941, 77 years. It has been at their current location for almost 50 years. The shop, which is reminiscent of a ski chalet complete with a working fireplace, was built by the father of current owner Cathy Hay and her husband Jack Hay. The shop is a full service ski shop selling everything from skis, snowboardsandrelatedequipment, snowshoes and winter apparel. The store provides a variety of services to ski and snowboard equipment, including ski tuning, boot repairs and more. Customers can also rent skis and snowboards and plan ski trips through Alpine Sport Shop.
The shop has outfitted generations of skiers according to Terri-Lynne Pellegri, an employee of Alpine Sport shop for more than 20 years.
“We’re in the business of selling fun,” she says.
“And it’s pretty wild because you have generations of people that shop here. There are people that come here, that came in as kids and now they’re outfitting their grandchildren with skis here,” she added.
Alexandra Norton, another employee of Alpine Ski Shop, suspects the store appeared on Freeskier’s radar through word of mouth. Throughout the contest Alpine Sport Shop has posted promotional videos with over 5,000 views combined on their Facebook page. The most viewed with 3.1 K views compares Alpines years in business to others such as Cheerios and M&M’s, all 77 years old as well.
“It’s a really fun way to get the word out there about Alpine Sport Shop and it’s also a nice way for customers to recognize a place where they love to shop and like to come to,” Pellegri said about the contest.
Alpine Sport Shop currently holds seventh place in the top 10 shops in the Northeast with almost 1400 votes. Other regions include the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West, the Rocky Mountains and Canada. Voting closed on Dec. 13.
