LAKE PLACID — New business owners Tyler Merriam and Nick Prechel are continuing the decades-long legacy of a community shop in Lake Placid, an opportunity they say was made possible by the support of the local community.
Merriam and Prechel are now the third owners of Adirondack Awards, which was founded as a family-run business by the Abbotts in 1962 before Mark and Amy Ervin bought the shop in 2014. The shop, known for its customized trophies and awards, screen-printed T-shirts, and embroidered and engraved products, has had a few locations throughout the years — it was first located on Main Street before moving to Sentinel Road. The Ervins moved the shop to its current location on Saranac Avenue around six years ago.
Merriam, 34, and Prechel, 39, have known each other for around 11 years. They first met in graduate school while earning their master’s degrees in recreation management at SUNY Cortland, ended up becoming college roommates and managed to stay in touch over the last decade. Merriam said he’d always wanted to be a business owner, but he’s always wanted a business partner by his side. Prechel was always his ideal co-owner candidate.
“I’ve always thought, ‘there’s nobody I could go into business with other than Nick,’” Merriam said. “Our skills are pretty complementary — our work ethic and attention to detail, passion and everything are all really well-aligned. So it just ended up falling into place, time-wise, for both of us.”
Read the full story in the Lake Placid News.