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Friday, May 9
NORTH ADAMS -- Former City Councilor Christopher J. Tremblay will permanently shut down the North Adams Pizza Co., at 20 Holden St., on June 1, if a buyer for the wood-fired pizza and Mexican restaurant hasn't emerged by his target date.

The restaurant, which will celebrate its first anniversary on May 28, has been listed for sale on craigslist.com for $15,000 for four to five months.

"We're voluntarily closing," Tremblay said Thursday. "It's a matter of not having the time for us. When we first opened, we had a manager. That didn't work out, so my wife and I have been running it."

The couple's son, Aidan Christopher, arrived two months early on Jan. 31.

"I really want to spend time with my son and see him grow up," Tremblay said. "I also have the electric business, which I need to focus on. I have several jobs that will be taking me out of the city and the state this summer."

He said the decision to close is not because of a lack of business.

"The business is doing OK," Tremblay said. "It was sustaining itself and paying most of its own bills. We do get a lot of traffic from Mass MoCA, but this isn't the North Adams of three years ago. It's a bad time

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economically, not just locally, but nationally. Hopefully things will get better."

He said hiring a new manager wouldn't be a viable solution at this point.

"When we first opened, a large bag of flour cost $14, now we're paying between $28 and $30 a bag," Tremblay said. "We'd be forced to raise the prices, and with a Domino's coming in, there will be increased competition."

He said the space, the former home of Hickory Bill's Barbecue, would make a great space for another form of restaurant, such as a sushi bar.

"We'd love to stay and keep the business open, but it's a 'mom-and-pop' operation that needs a mom and pop to be there."

He said if a buyer doesn't emerge by June 1, he'll auction off the contents of the 24-seat eatery and donate the remaining non-perishable food items to the local food pantry.

Tremblay also owns Tremblay Electric and Berkshires Best on Union Street. He said the fate of Berkshires Best, which sells local crafts and items by consignment along with homemade candles, is still up in the air.

"I'm thinking of liquidating that as well," he said. "My mother runs the store, and she'll be baby-sitting for us when my wife returns to work."

Tremblay said anyone interested in purchasing the business can contact him at 413-664-8162.