Granville Then & Now – Granville McDonald’s at 30 years

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The Granville McDonald’s reaches a major milestone this weekend in business here in Granville. This franchise of the prominent and well-known McDonald’s fast food chain has been in business for 30 years.

The McDonald’s chain had been in business for more than 40 years before the Granville franchise opened in 1991. The first McDonald’s was opened in 1948, in San Bernardino, California, by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald. They franchised some locations on a small scale, in the early 1950s. Ray Kroc, upon becoming their franchising agent, began accelerating growth and increased franchising. He opened his own McDonald’s in April of 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois. The ninth to open, it was also the first to be in a colder climate than that of California; as such, it had a basement and heating system. Kroc ultimately bought McDonald’s from the McDonald brothers in 1961, and formed the McDonald’s Corporation.

The first McDonald’s in New York opened in November 1959, in Amherst, near Buffalo. The first McDonald’s to open within 50 miles of Granville was in Queensbury. It opened in September of 1964, on Route 9. Both the Amherst and Queensbury McDonald’s are still open today; the locations have been renovated.

More McDonald’s franchises opened in the surrounding area over the years. The Rutland, Vermont franchise on Route 7 opened in 1973. South Glens Falls and Fort Edward followed in 1976. A Greenwich location opened by 1984 and the Ticonderoga location opened in 1984. After the McDonald’s in Fair Haven, Vermont opened in the fall of 1988 about 12 miles from Granville, people of the Granville area began to take notice of the fast food burger chain.

McDonald’s was not the first such chain to look at Granville. In 1988, Burger King considered coming to Granville. A few properties on Quaker Street were considered, but nothing came of it. The fleeting interest of Burger King caught the interest of the McDonald’s Corporation. They began to look into opening in Granville. They did research on the Granville area, including traffic counts.

McDonald’s Corporation ultimately decided that Granville would be a good fit for them. In April of 1990, they bought property on Route 22, where the bypass and lower Quaker Street meet. Construction of a McDonald’s was delayed by a few issues, including exit and entrances needing to be approved by the DOT, as well as water and sewage. One such change between the original proposal and the finished McDonald’s was that the exit was supposed to be at the entrance, rather than a separate ramp as it is now; it was moved at the request of the DOT, likely to avoid traffic conflicts.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 23, 1991. Local dignitaries attended the event. The building went up quickly, being finished in less than two months.

The Granville McDonald’s opened on June 27, 1991, at 6 a.m. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at 10 a.m. The ribbon was cut by Granville town supervisor Roy Esiason and village mayor Pat Muller. The Granville High School Band played at the ceremony.

There were several promotions on opening day, and in the first month. The first 2,000 people to enter the restaurant received a “Granville Loves McDonald’s” button, and a cupholder. Grand opening fliers mailed out to area residents could be filled out for a sweepstakes; first winner would receive a patio set from Telescope Casual Furniture, second winner a Timberline push lawnmower from Moore’s Corners, and third winner three $50 savings bonds from the First National Bank of Glens Falls. A guest chef promotion was done in July, with participants including Roy Esiason, Pat Muller, Roger Forando and James Allegretto.

The Granville McDonald’s was operated directly by McDonald’s Corporation until January of 1993, when the franchise was purchased by John and Theresa Coman. The Comans, and in turn the Granville McDonald’s, were very involved in the Granville community, sponsoring events, and were part of the high school’s Granville Renaissance program. Around 2000, the franchise was bought by Charlie Coughlin of Rutland, Vermont.

The flooding from Hurricane Irene in August of 2011 damaged the Granville McDonald’s. The business closed for a couple of months while Coughlin and corporate worked out repairs. The store was remodeled to have an interior with the late 2000s design, and the outside was repainted from the original two-tone white and red color scheme to brown and dark beige.

In 2016, the Granville McDonald’s franchise sold again, this time to Luke 16:10 LLC, incorporated to an address in Farmingdale, New York, on Long Island.

The Granville McDonald’s is one of two McDonald’s in the area – the other being in Greenwich – that have not been remodeled to the new building design.

This Sunday, June 27, the Granville McDonald’s will have been in business for 30 years. While liked and despised alike by locals, it is a part of the Granville business community. The continued operation of the Granville McDonald’s attests to the fact that Granville still attracts business, and that there is much potential for Granville to grow with more businesses.

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Changes are happening fast with pandemic related restrictions . . . Vermont announced last Monday, June 14, that the state had reached 80% vaccination, and would lift nearly all restrictions, effective immediately. New York announced the following day that it had reached 70% vaccination, and that many of the restrictions were lifted. Among the important restrictions lifted are those capacity restrictions on restaurants and bars; both can now have 100% capacity, and no longer have to use social distancing measures such as separating used tables by six feet. There are still several types of places that have restrictions in New York, including schools, health care centers, nursing homes, and correctional facilities.

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The honor banners in Granville and Hampton are gaining much positive comment for both communities. With the efforts of those behind the Slate Valley Military and Honor Banner Project, the Granville area joins the many American communities that have made banners to honor those who are serving or have served our country. All those involved with the banner project deserve many thanks for their efforts.

At this time, the banner committee has made no decision regarding when the banners will be taken down. Some want the banners up for a few weeks around both Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Others want to stay up from before Memorial Day, through the summer, to after Veterans Day. There are some communities in the area that have left their banners up all summer. The banners in Port Henry, one such community, have faded and lost the vibrant colors due to the summer sun.

It would be best for the Granville area to take the banners down for the summer, and put them back up in October. This would ensure the longevity of the banners, as well as keep the significance of the banners strong. If the honor banners were left up for the summer, the significance of the banners would be diminished, since they would become, in the eyes of the public, just another sight of summer in Granville. Those behind the Slate Valley Military and Honor Banner Project put a lot of time, planning and work into making honor banners for the Granville area, and hopefully the committee will make the best decision regarding the banners.