2 weeks Ago
Twenty-four years ago, the store was a small space near the front entrance and Moudgil primarily sold coffee and cookies to the employees of assorted downtown businesses. He later began selling deli sandwiches. “There were so many people around here,” Moudgil reminisced on a recent afternoon.
He was between customers in the store. “Everyone came for coffee. We would brew 10 pots every morning.
” Coffee is still offered at the 47 Market Place but service at the deli counter was suspended five years ago. Many of those downtown office jobs — at the phone company, at the banks and law firms — no longer exist, according to Moudgil, and he has adjusted the store’s product offerings to reflect these commercial realities. The store has grown to about five times its initial size, as the landlord took over space formerly leased to others, and what had been a coffee nook is now part convenience store and part general store.
The deli counter remains in place but is now covered with a tarp on which the owner displays hats, backpacks and other apparel. A corridor through the building connects the sidewalk entrance on North Main with a small parking lot behind the structure on Elm St. The market is long and narrow and occupies much of the south side of the hallway.
People using the building as a shortcut must pass by the store, where much of the merchandise is visible through the windows in a wooden wall. The beer, potato chips, soft drinks and household products section of the store is open for self-service, but the other areas contain items that Moudgil will fetch and show to a prospective customer. These items, including scented candles and large ashtrays, have been added to the inventory as the store’s owner has continued to increase the size of the 47 Market Place.
Alcoholic beverages and snack foods account for a large chunk of his sales, Moudgil said, but he considers every cent of revenue to be important. “Each and every item I sell makes a difference,” he said. “This is a tough area — a very, very tough area in which to make a living.
” Late on a recent Saturday afternoon, most of the store’s customers had walked to the shop. “I’ve known this gentleman for many years, and he’s been great,” Joe Tomlinson said as Moudgil placed some soft drinks into a plastic bag. Tomlinson lives near the library on Washington St.
“I always come here.” “Avi’s a great person and his store’s amazing,” said a thin woman in her 30s. She and a friend, both giggling, were buying some malt beverages and said they lived nearby.
They would not provide their names but said they visited the 47 Market Place at least once a day. Moudgil opens the store every morning at 8. On weekdays, he closes at 8 p.
m. On Saturdays, the store closes at 6 p.m, and it is closed at 3 p.
m. on Sundays. “The days here — they can be long,” Moudgil said.
He had three employees when the deli was operating but now runs the store by himself. Julie Rockwell from Johnstown had parked on the Elm St. side of the building.
“I’m here quite often,” she said as Moudgil bagged up her four small boxes of Red Hots candy and she paid him $1.08. “He’s very good to his clients.
” “I’ve been coming here since 2003,” said a forty-something man wearing pink sandals and buying a pack of cigarettes. He would not provide his name but said he lives on North Warner St. “I come whenever I have money.
I like this store.” Moudgil arrived in the U.S.
from the Punjab region of India on the first day of 1984. He established an Indian grocery store in New York City and became acquainted with the Gloversville area when he was procuring leather goods to sell at flea markets. He relocated to Fulton County in 1989, purchased and renovated one commercial building in Gloversville, and then bought the Getman Block in 1995.
His wife, Anna, is from Johnstown. Avinash Moudgil said he has always believed in working hard, no matter the occupation, but credits his successes to his patience and realism concerning the ways of making a dollar. He is hopeful that new jobs will come to Gloversville, and he can take the tarp off his store’s deli counter, but he fears too many younger entrepreneurs want instant satisfaction.
“The problem is, people come with the ideas — but they can’t put up the effort and time,” he said. “People think that if you open the business, tomorrow you’ll be rich.” Cans of Red Bull and other energy drinks are inside a cooler at the 47 Market Place in Gloversville.
Avinash Moudgil, owner of the 47 Market Place, holds up some inventory in the salted snacks section of his store at 43-47 N. Main St. in Gloversville.
He opened the store in 2000, five years after he bought the building. To increase his sales, the owner of the 47 Market Place in Gloversville began stocking his coffee and sandwich shop with more household items, such as bleach and dish detergent. Avinash Moudgil bought of the Getman Block in 1995 but did not open the 47 Market Place until nearly five years later.
The store operates from the ground floor the building and sells beer, soft drinks, candy, tobacco and household items. With old ceilings and new wooden walls, the 47 Market Place in Gloversville has grown into a general store from the coffee and cookie stand that was opened at 43-47 N. Main St.
in March 2000. Six-packs of beer are displayed for sale inside the 47 Market Place in Gloversville. The backside of the Getman Block is on Elm St.
in Gloversville. Avinash Moudgil, proprietor of the 47 Market Place, also owns the building and serves as landlord to several tenants, including FMS Workforce Solutions and Ralph’s Tailor Shop. This ATM machine stands in a corridor outside the 47 Market Place in Gloversville.
Having a machine that dispenses as little as $5 makes it easier for customers to make purchases, according to the store's owner. Avinash Moudgil, owner of the 47 Market Place, stands behind the counter of his Gloversville store, which he opened more than 24 years ago. Moudgil also owns the building at 43-47 N.
Main St. 47 Marketplace on North Main Street in Gloversville, Feb. 16, 2024.
-.
