News/Business
The Friendly Diner revives the Pittsfield breakfast scene
By RACHEL WACHMAN
Scott Partridge doesn’t forget faces. Even if he can’t always recall someone’s name, he remembers their order. As customers trickled out of his new Pittsfield restaurant, the Friendly Diner, after the Tuesday lunch rush, he waved and thanked people...
New campground in Hillsborough the first of its kind to open in New Hampshire in five years
By ALEXANDER RAPP
When Kevin McCauley bought 150 acres of forested land in Hillsborough 45 years ago, it was an unusual purchase for a college student, but it just made sense.“I was on one of my breaks from New England College and between classes, and I walked in this...
Asian Thai Kitchen which opened in Concord in June is run by a family of eight sisters
By JEREMY MARGOLIS
The newest Thai restaurant in Concord is a family affair – or more precisely, a Sister Act.Asian Thai Kitchen on Pleasant Street, which opened in June, is run by a family of eight sisters.Four members of the Senasy family, who immigrated to the United...
Another delay for huge Pitco development planned for Concord
By DAVID BROOKS
Three years after the city first approved the idea, Bow-based Pitco asked for and received another extension on its proposal to build a huge manufacturing facility off Manchester Street in Concord, saying it needs the time to place a conservation...
How sound baths provide a unique escape
By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN
It was one of those overcast days when the crisp breeze was just cool enough to make me reach for a light sweater from the closet.As I opened the door and slipped off my shoes, the soft strains of music that filled the room seemed to gently leave the...
‘This is an evolution’: Burlington store in Capital Shopping Center may be split into four
By DAVID BROOKS
The huge Burlington store in Capital Shopping Center would turn into four smaller stores under the latest proposal to rework the six-decade-old plaza on Storrs Street in Concord.“For the last five years, we have known that Burlington … that they’ve...
How does Market Basket fit a 19-inch pizza into an 18-inch box? We tried to figure it out
By SOFIE BUCKMINSTER
How do you fit a 19-inch pizza into an 18-inch box?That’s a question the Concord Monitor decided was worth exploring.Concord is fortunate enough to have not one but three Market Basket supermarkets. Unlike the other two, the newest one at the...
Forum Pub in Penacook starts pay-it-forward program so someone else can nab a free meal
By SOPHIE LEVENSON
Anastasia McNeil bought her dad a figurine designed to look just like him for Father’s Day.The Funko Pop! effigy now stands atop well-stocked liquor shelves, facing the Forum Pub’s erratically-decorated wall. The miniature version of Kirk McNeil faces...
Concord’s latest arts and restaurant development breaks ground, set for April 2025 completion
By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN
An ambitious project that would bring multiple restaurants to Main Street broke ground this week.Dubbed “Arts Alley,” the development includes a two-story building between the Bank of New Hampshire Stage and the Concord Food Co-op that will house a...
Concord Tractor has survived the hardest thing in business: shifting from one generation to the next
By DAVID BROOKS
Business owners always have goals. George Ryan has achieved his most important one.“I always wanted to be in driving distance to my family,” he said. “I did that.”Actually, he did much better.During work hours the 74-year-old is within walking...
Comcast Business joins with Starlink satellite service
By DAVID BROOKS
Comcast Business is trying a new way to reach customers aside from through its cables, collaborating with the Starlink satellite-Internet service from SpaceX.Comcast currently reaches 118 New Hampshire communities in much of southern New Hampshire and...
‘Hot dog therapy’: In downtown Concord, hot dog stands rule summer
By SOPHIE LEVENSON
At 2:45 p.m. at the steamy end of a summer workweek, Gretchen Peters was still busy. It was 15 minutes before she closed for the day, but the working people on Main Street were still hungry for hot dogs.Peters has been running Puppy Love Hot Dogs for...
‘The focus is the music’: Pembroke City Limits brings neighborhood bar and live music to Suncook Valley
By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN
Mills renovated into apartments. A new craft brewery and a diner. Young couples with dogs and babies strolling the sidewalks.Rob Azevedo had long envisioned how to turn an old furniture store in Suncook Village into a bar and live music venue. Looking...
Steeplegate Mall owners gets OK to start partial demolition
By DAVID BROOKS
The walls should start coming down soon at Steeplegate Mall, 35 years after they were erected.The Concord Planning Board unanimously approved Wednesday an amendment to the Steeplegate site plan that will allow most of the mall to be torn down. This...
“The last player standing” – Swenson Granite’s Concord quarry shuttered after 140-year-history
By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI
In a recent drive up Rattlesnake Hill, Kurt Swenson found the quarry he once owned eerily quiet.Gone were the employees who sliced blocks of stone from walls a hundred-plus feet down from the edge, a job he first had as a teenager. Silent was the...
Local couple’s microbrewery plans delayed in Bow
By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN
Plans to open a microbrewery in Bow have been delayed due to driveway permit issues with the state.Dan and Kelly Thomas had hoped to launch their microbrewery at 516 South Street this spring, right next to Bow’s only dining spot, Chen Yang Li, a...
Owner of EMS, Bob’s Stores files for bankruptcy; fate of local stores uncertain
By DAVID BROOKS
The company that owns EMS, long known as Eastern Mountain Sports, and Bob’s Stores has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be shutting its Connecticut headquarters, according to press reports.Eastern Mountain Sports was founded in Massachusetts...
Concord’s Vinnie’s Pizzaria back in business with new menu and historic charm
By SOPHIE LEVENSON
Five minutes after Vinnie’s reopened its doors, the classic Concord pizzeria had its first customer. Michael Arsenault pulled his car up to a building that has hardly changed in his lifetime, wondering if things would be different on the inside. He...
Concord’s new ice cream shop offers unique flavors
By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN
Before you can even decide which sweet treat you want, the moment you step into the Social Club Creamery in Concord, you are hit with the rich aroma of freshly made waffle cones.This irresistible scent sets the stage for the delightful dilemma –...
Aissa Sweets blends Syrian flavor with innovation
By CHLOE RATTEE
Ahmad Aissa, owner of Concord’s Aissa Sweets, said his favorite part of owning his wholesale bakery is innovation.“That’s [the] area I love, fixing machines, assembling production lines, make sure we can output, let’s say, a ton per day and stuff,...
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