Greater Honesdale sees three new businesses

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE — Within the last two weeks, three new business ventures came to the greater Honesdale area.

Last Friday, Northeast Med Equipment announced the purchase of the former Glinsky’s Pharmacy, which it will transform into a pharmacy and a medical equipment store.

Two weeks ago, four young Honesdale entrepreneurs—Rudy Schemitz, Thomas Cush, Gary Linde and Wayne R. Stevens, Jr.—announced their intention to refurbish the historic Warehouse Furniture Store, at 650 Main Street, that has been empty for a number of years.

This past Monday, the Honesdale National Bank announced its purchase of the former Narrowsburg Lumber Company building, at the intersection of Routes 6 and 652. The bank will use the facility for a back-office operation.

“It’s wonderful to see the next generation of Honesdale business people leading the way,” said Wayne Stevens, Sr. whose son, Wayne, Jr., a partner in the warehouse venture, is heading up Northeast Med Equipment. “These young people are returning to their hometown after college and are getting excited about the business opportunities here,” he added.

“The Greater Honesdale Partnership (GHP), which has been involved in creating these new opportunities, is getting the ‘acres of diamonds’ message out about Honesdale as a great place to do business,” Stevens, Sr. said. “It’s a real advantage to have Carson Mader [executive director of the partnership] working full-time to promote business in the town,” he said.

The GHP recently merged with the Honesdale Business Association and the Greater Honesdale Chamber of Commerce.

“The recent sales of this vacant building [Glinsky’s], the vacant Warehouse Furniture building also on Main Street and the vacant Narrowsburg Lumber property on Commercial Street clearly demonstrate that businesses are eager to invest in Honesdale and that Honesdale is alive and well,” Mader said.

“Keep an eye on us. We’ll build a business that the whole community will be proud of. No one executes the medical equipment/pharmacy business better than we do,” said Stevens, Jr.

Northeast Med Equipment is one of the few medical equipment stores in the area that is accredited by the industry.