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Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — For the third year in a row, Cedar Chest, the anchor store in Thornes Marketplace on Main Street in downtown Northampton, will partner with food and farming-justice organization Grow Food Northampton to conduct the “Give $10, Get $10” promotion that helps community members grappling with food insecurity to afford healthy, local farm foods at Grow Food Northampton’s farmers markets all year long.

Grow Food Northampton’s SNAP Match program ensures that low-income residents can more than double their purchase of nutrient-rich local produce and other farm products at Tuesday Market behind Thornes Marketplace from April to November and, in the winter, at the Winter Market at the Northampton Senior Center. The “Give $10, Get $10” promotion, beginning June 11, allows Cedar Chest customers to come into the store and donate $10 to Grow Food Northampton’s SNAP Match program and, in turn, receive a $10 gift card to spend at Cedar Chest.

“Cedar Chest is thrilled to partner with Grow Food Northampton for the third year in a row,” Cedar Chest co-owner Alex Feinstein said. “Our ‘Give $10, Get $10’ campaign achieves so many important goals: it supports local agriculture; helps a vital nonprofit like Grow Food Northampton; supports our local business, Cedar Chest; and ensures that everyone in our community, no matter their income level, can eat fresh, healthy, locally grown farm foods. We welcome customers to join us in making a positive impact by simply giving $10 and, in return, receiving a $10 gift card.”

Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton, added that “this partnership with Cedar Chest is local generosity at its best. Thanks to them and several other local businesses, our SNAP Match program ensures that food grown in the rich soils right here where we live are nourishing the people who need it the most. Every year, as food insecurity grows, the SNAP Match program grows. We’re lucky that so many local businesses understand the need to support this work. We rely on their generosity for the continued success of this ever-expanding program.”

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — For the second year in a row, Cedar Chest, the anchor store in Thornes Marketplace on Main Street in downtown Northampton, will partner with food-justice organization Grow Food Northampton to ensure that community members grappling with food insecurity and hunger are able to access healthy, local farm foods all year long at Grow Food Northampton’s farmers markets, Tuesday Market, and Winter market.

The Grow Food Northampton SNAP Match program allows community members who use SNAP (formerly called food stamps) to more than double their purchase of nutritious local produce and other farm products at the weekly Tuesday Market farmers market behind Thornes Marketplace, and in the winter at the Winter Market at the Northampton Senior Center.

The ‘give $10, get $10’ promotion, beginning June 12, allows Cedar Chest customers to donate $10 to Grow Food Northampton’s SNAP Match program and, in turn, receive a $10 gift card to spend at Cedar Chest.

“The ‘give $10, get $10’ program is a fun way to collaborate locally and support the incredible work of Grow Food Northampton,” Cedar Chest co-owner Alex Feinstein said. “We welcome customers to join us in making a positive impact by simply giving $10 and, in return, receiving a $10 gift card. Together, we can nourish our community while enjoying everything Cedar Chest has to offer.”

Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton, added that “we are committed to ensuring that every member of our community, no matter their income level, has access to healthy, locally grown produce. We’re so grateful to Cedar Chest. Every dollar our SNAP Match program shares with community members who are food-insecure comes from generous business sponsorships and collaborations like this with Cedar Chest.”

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Two longtime downtown businesspeople, Lauren Gunther and Alex Feinstein, have together purchased two stores in Thornes Marketplace: Cedar Chest, which is in its 75th year, and Stay Golden, a new business on the first floor.

Gunther, previously the merchandise manager for both businesses, and Feinstein, the former owner of GoBerry in Northampton and Amherst, purchased the stores in mid-April from Rich Madowitz, who is also a co-owner of Thornes. Gunther and Feinstein are both natives of Hampshire County.

Feinstein closed his Amherst shop early in the pandemic, and the GoBerry in Northampton closed in January 2022. He has been doing pandemic-related financial consulting in the region and had been actively looking for his next challenge when Madowitz connected the two new co-owners late last year because he thought their skillsets were a great fit for joint ownership.

“We’re excited to move forward and be able to involve our staff in the transition,” Gunther said.

Feinstein added that “I’m pleased to step into businesses that are already doing awesome work and see what our energy can bring to them to make them do more.”

Gunther has been with Cedar Chest for 13 years. Feinstein came into the mix in early December 2022 in a consultant role.

Cedar Chest, an eclectic gift store, carries everything from home décor to stationery, loungewear, bath and body products, and holiday items. Its new sister store, Stay Golden, which opened in October 2022, offers primarily casual and business clothing for women along with jewelry and other accessories. About 30 associates work at the shops, with a half-dozen dedicated to Stay Golden.

Gunther and Feinstein said they do not have plans to make changes to merchandise in the stores, but they will be looking at creating efficiencies that will allow them to make their staff team stronger.

“I love to find efficiencies and document and implement systems,” said Feinstein, who grew up in Northampton and Easthampton. “I’ve been on board for five months now and have a new scheduling system, email platform, and digital invoicing system in place. Finding tools that work across departments and help people collaborate is what I bring to the table.”

Gunther’s expertise is in merchandizing. She grew up in Williamsburg and shopped in downtown stores as a young person, later working at Faces for a time as well. “It’s interesting to be among those helping two of these shops to evolve,” she said. “It’s unique to have two entrepreneurs of similar age who grew up in the area and are now really involved in downtown and Thornes. That’s fun and unique.”