Displaying items by tag: Stewart's Shops

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Tiz the Law took the Traver’s Stakes in Saratoga after winning the Belmont Stakes and he’s headed to Kentucky to run in the Kentucky Derby. To celebrate this hometown hero, Stewart’s Shops has given him an honor, a dedicated ice cream flavor appropriately named, Tiz the Law.

This Limited Edition flavor has a chocolate ice cream base with baked brownie and cheesecake pieces. It is available in cones, shakes, sundaes, and hand packed pints at the cone counter. Tiz the Law owner, Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable made a special request for a chocolate flavor and prompted the flavor choice.

Stewart’s Shops president, Gary Dake says, “Although this year may be a bit different for the racing community, a dedicated ice cream flavor is a fun way to celebrate our favorite hometown horse, Tiz the Law.” 

Jack Knowlton says, “It is truly a thrill for Sackatoga Stable to have a second ice cream flavor dedicated to one of our horses. Seventeen years ago, Stewart’s commemorated Funny Cide’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness wins with an ice cream flavor named Funny Cide Pride. The Tiz the Law flavor will undoubtably be a big hit in Saratoga and beyond.”

Tiz the Law will be available all 337 Stewart’s Shops at the cone counter on Monday, Aug. 31 through Sunday, Oct. 4. And don’t forget, NYRA Bets Cards are still available in participating Stewart’s Shops through Sunday, Sept. 6 and can be used to bet the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Sept. 5, and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, Oct. 3.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Campfire s’moreo. Bourbon truffle maker. Baked placid cheesecake, and mango dragon fruit sherbet.  There are more than 60 different flavors available at Stewart’s Shops, including those four which are part of the summertime limited edition kind. This summer, the company thought it a most appropriate time to re-introduce a limited-edition flavor that first premiered two years ago. It’s called: Civility. 

“Just plain old kindness,” “getting along with people,” “putting out a positive energy to everybody you come across,” sound the endorsements in the company’s 80-second video clip re-introducing the ice cream flavor. 

“It initially launched in 2018, a time when things were similar to how they are today - a country divided,” Stewart’s Shops spokeswoman Erica Komoroske said this week. “Right now, we’re having a big issue with masks. People are really divided on the mask issue. COVID-19 has put people on edge and we see a lot of hostility, customers yelling at each other in our shops about wearing a mask.  What better time to bring back ‘civility,’” she says. 

By definition the practice of extending basic politeness and respect to all citizens of society; by flavor, a vanilla based ice cream with a salty caramel swirl thought up by owner Bill Dake and created at the company manufacturing plant in Greenfield. “It’s a non-nut flavor,” she says.  “We’ve had dozens and dozens of requests from customers to bring Civility back.” 

Stewart’s Shops are deemed essential businesses and as such have remained open for the duration of the COVID period. It counts approximately two dozen shops within 10 miles of Saratoga Springs, 55 shops in Saratoga County and approximately 5,000 employees and 337 stores in New York and Southern Vermont. 

On July 1, the company posted a lengthy statement on its web site detailing its priority to protect the health and safety of customers and employees, its adherence to CDC recommended guidelines and the protocols it was taking: the installation of plexiglass barriers at cash registers, offering hand sanitizer for customer use, regularly sanitizing high-touch areas, and posting signage to enforce customer social distancing, among them. 

All shop employees - across New York and Vermont - are required to wear face coverings. Store signage informs that customers over the age of 2 medically able to do so are also required to cover their face with a mask or cloth face covering. However, it the customers’ responsibility to comply with the mask order. 

“A mask is required, but we can’t put our partners in a position to enforce it,” Komoroske says. We’re trying to offer gentle reminders to customers – ‘hey, did you forget your mask today?’ There have been physical altercations in our parking lot. There have been customers chased with a tire iron. This mask issue has definitely divided people.” 

The problem, she says, is the wearing of masks is not mandated by law. “If Ag & Markets came out with a law that said masks are mandatory, we would have better backing to enforce it as well,” she says. 

“It’s not a law, it’s an executive order,” says Robin Dalton, public safety commissioner in Saratoga Springs. “There is no enforcement that is available to us as a local municipality to do anything other than remind and strongly encourage people to wear their masks. We are completely hamstrung. Our police department very much wants to follow the rule of law, but they are not going to write a ticket for something they know is not a law and not enforceable,” Dalton says. 

“Personally – I think every single person should be wearing a mask when they step outside. If they aren’t around people, they should have it dangling on their wrist, like I do, so the second they see someone coming into their space, throw it on, or cross the street,” she explains. “There are a lot of people stuck at home, who are terrified to go downtown and terrified to go outside  because other people are not willing to show them the common courtesy and respect of putting on a face mask. I think it has to do with safety, and with respect. We are such a philanthropic and giving community, but when it comes to this one particular issue, for some reason which I will never understand, it’s polarizing.” 

A survey initiated by Saratoga-based tourism agencies conducted in June in which just over 3,200 participated, listed “masks worn by employees” as the top safety precautions businesses and their employees can take that will motivate respondents to visit their businesses. The results of the survey, publicly released July 8, also listed “a lack of trust in venues enforcing proper safety guidelines” as the main reason nearly 1,000 of the respondents are deterred from visiting Saratoga County. 

The survey partnered Mind Genomics the Saratoga County Chamber, Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership and other agencies and was designed to glean information about what will motivate respondents to visit Saratoga County in the next six months.

Absent stronger language from the state regarding  mandatory mask-wearing of customers, Stewart’s Shops is test-marketing different ideas. 

“We’re rolling out a test right now offering complimentary masks in one of our district of 17 shops in Valatie, and we’re trying to learn: are people going to respond? will they take the mask? how will they respond if a partner offers them a mask?” Komoroske says. “if that test goes well, we’ll roll that out company-wide.” 

On March 1, the Bag Waste Reduction Law will go into effect across New York State. The law is meant to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags and cut down on waste. However, some see it as a downside.

The new law bans plastic bags that would be provided to customers at any state retailer that collects sales tax. Instead, stores will provide paper bags at an extra cost of 5 cents, which is collected as a state tax. Stores will also begin to sell reusable cloth bags for customers to purchase.

Not every plastic bag is banned under this new law. Exempt bags include those used to wrap food products and plants, bags for collecting bulk items, garment bags, trash bags and most importantly for us, bags for delivering newspapers. Shoppers are also encouraged to keep using the current plastic bags that they already own.

Local businesses are already preparing for the change. Healthy Living Market and Café in Wilton has already instituted a plastic bag ban at their store and recently began charging 5 cents for paper bags earlier this week. However, their paper bag decision was made long before the law was passed, and the 5 cents they charge goes to a local food pantry.

“We’re really trying to be a step above the game,” said Duane Hendershot, General Manager at Healthy Living. “We don’t care about the nickels and dimes, we care about the environment and getting people to reuse their bags.” Healthy Living Market and Café also offers a 10-cent discount for anyone shopping with a reusable bag.

In a recent Facebook post, Stewart’s Shops also announced that they would no longer have plastic bags, and encouraged members of the community to share their memories of the bags. Many commenters said they particularly liked Stewart’s plastic bags because they were thicker than other bags, and used them for carrying winter boots, cleaning cat litter, and using as garbage bags in small garbage pails.

While Stewart’s encouraged its customers to keep reusing their plastic bags, some expressed sadness and frustration about not being able to get new ones anymore. Others in the community think that the new law is a positive sign for the future of the environment. “A lot of people want their hands held and want things to be the same as when they were kids, but things change,” said local resident Daniel Abrams. “Maybe this makes life more inconvenient, but you just have to get another kind of bag. It may be annoying, but a law is a law.”

It is still unclear in the scientific community whether plastic bag bans are actually beneficial to the environment, or have unintended and harmful consequences. According to the Environmental Literacy Council, plastic bags take up less space in landfills than paper bags, creating less waste by volume. They are also reusable, unlike paper bags. However, plastic bags are not biodegradable and can be extremely harmful to marine life, clog sewer pipes and are some of the most common stray trash found on the planet.

Another study that examined a plastic bag ban in the state of California showed that after the ban was implemented, the sale of garbage bags skyrocketed. Garbage bags can be even more harmful than regular plastic bags, as they are made of thicker material and use more plastic. According to the study’s author, economist Rebecca Taylor, “…about 30% of percent of the plastic that was eliminated by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags.” Even reusable cloth bags are not without their harm, due to water use and other production factors.

No matter what bag consumers use, it may feel like a Catch-22. The best option for New Yorkers is to keep reusing whatever bags that they already have. Whether it’s plastic bags, cloth bags, tote bags, purses or backpacks, reusing what you already own is a better choice than buying something new. For more information on the NYS Plastic Bag Ban Law and other exempt plastic bags, visit www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/50034.html.

For Purposes of Clarification

In Saratoga Today’s Feb. 7 edition, the front-page article “So Long, Plastic!” omitted that at this time Saratoga County and the City of Saratoga Springs will not opt-in to the 5 cent paper bag tax under the Bag Waste Reduction Law.