Views from Two Main Street Businessmen

PLYMOUTH – No matter what a student is buying downtown, it is certain that their business will have an impact on the Plymouth community. Many students go downtown and support local businesses by buying textbooks or other school supplies, others go to find party essentials, while others simply go to get their morning coffee. Louis Samaha, owner and operator of the Corner store on Main Street in Plymouth, is a familiar face to many Plymouth State University students. His store has been on that corner and in his family for 95 years. The store carries just about every tobacco and alcohol product imaginable, short of hard liquor, many regular food and drink products, and specialty items such as knives and other products. The store has an old time feel with wooden floors and dusty windows.It is easy to find a Plymouth State University student who has made that ever important “run to Louie’s” on a Thursday night. Samaha says that he sees a large increase in alcohol sales on the key party nights: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and any night that the Red Sox or Patriots are playing. “The Red Sox are good to us,” says Samaha.Overall, Samaha reports that his sales increase by 1/3 when Plymouth State University is in session. Students buy a lot of “pasta, pop-tarts, energy drinks, and candy” says Samaha. “[The student’s business] is tremendously important. For me it’s the difference between getting by and making a living. [The] students bring nothing but good to the community. Not just the stores, everybody in the community gains.” Samaha admits that Wal-Mart and the 24-hour gas stations do take some of his business but claims: “I’m the Cat’s Meow. I like to think I have a very loyal cliental.” Samaha might fulfill the needs of any Plymouth State University student who is looking for their alcohol, tobacco, or candy fix, but he can’t do much for those who just want a cup of coffee. Whether one is looking for a regular coffee, a shot of espresso, or a creamy vanilla chai, Café Monte Alto is the place to be. It is located in Chase Street Market right above Biederman’s Deli and is run by Eddie Giunta and his wife, Micky.Giunta is a man who knows his coffee. For 65 years his family has owned premium coffee plantations in Puerto Rico and Peru. The beans are imported fresh and Giunta roasts them himself right on Main Street, making a cup from Café Monte Alto just about as fresh as it comes. As an added bonus Café Monte Alto has a 100% commitment to fair trade coffee. Not only do is it a premium cup of coffee, a fair share of the money actually goes to poor coffee farmers and their families. What does a man so versed in the world of coffee think of having a café in Plymouth, New Hampshire? In short, he loves it. On almost any morning in Plymouth, there is a number of people and conversations going on in Café Monte Alto. In its nine year history in Plymouth, business has not always been so good. “It did not start out good [in Plymouth]. Not just any business is going to fly,” says Giunta, “At first, very few people came from campus.” Guinta notes that Plymouth State University has changed for the better since he came here. This improved atmosphere has brought lots of additional non-students to the Plymouth area for various reasons. Giunta says that it’s this “extra traffic that does it” even more so than the students. Despite business from coffee-drinking university students, Giunta says that it’s his regular customers that are his core business. With all the extra traffic generated by Plymouth State University, his coffee is enticing new regulars every day.For the most part, Giunta is happy with Plymouth State University for the business it brings but thinks the university could have done more to form a bound with the businesses of Main Street. “When they put in those concessions at the college (i.e.: Sodexho dining services, Barns & Noble campus bookstore, and Green Mountain Coffee at the sidewalk café) they could of used local businesses,” says Giunta. “Instead they could have created a separation between the businesses when they could have gotten it all from within the Plymouth community.” He thinks that it is still possible for a formal business relationship between Plymouth State University and the businesses of Main Street.