Mountain club moves Lake George office down the road

Fishing tackle business nets bigger space

By Mike Lynch

Adirondack Mountain Club is continuing to transform its brick-and-mortar identity. 

On Monday, the nonprofit hiking club finalized a pair of deals with a fishing tackle retailer to swap locations in the Lake George area. 

ADK sold its member services building at 814 Goggins Road to Fish307.com for $800,000 in Lake George, and signed a one-year lease with the business to occupy its building at the corner of Routes 149 and 9 in Queensbury.

The Goggins Road property is about three miles north of where Fish307.com has operated the past 14 years. Both properties are just south of downtown Lake George. 

The sale allows ADK to put money toward the Cascade Welcome Center (formerly the Cascade Ski Center) near Lake Placid, which it purchased for $2.5 million earlier this year, and allows the organization to relocate to a building with more public visibility. 

“The long-term vision is to gather information and see how it goes,” said ADK communications director Ben Brosseau. “One of the questions is, ‘where can you be to have the greatest impact and where can we reach the most people?’” 

He said if things go well, ADK could remain in the new location long-term. Otherwise, they will seek a new location. 

ADK has been in the Goggins Road location for about 30 years. The roughly 15,000 square foot building has served as the organization’s administrative headquarters and warehouse for its retail merchandise, including books and shirts. 

However, the building never drew the foot traffic that ADK leadership had hoped for when it bought the building. 

“It never really panned out there, essentially, because it’s the opposite side of the village,” Brosseau said. 

Jeffrey Goldberg, owner of FIsh307.com, called the transactions “a win, win.”

“It’s a natural expansion of our business as we have outgrown our current facility,” said Goldberg, whose company does much of its business online. 

He said ADK should get “more exposure” at this new location, which is set at the north end of the outlets in Lake George. 

ADK’s new facility is about 7,200 square feet, with the space divided equally between the two floors. Both buildings are log cabin style. 

The transition for the two entities is expected to take a couple months. 

ADK also owns “one square mile” at the end of Adirondack Loj Road. That property is home to its campground, High Peaks Information Center, Adirondak Loj, and trailheads for popular mountains, such as Mount Marcy and Algonquin Peak, and Mount Jo.