The window of the Talbots on the corner of Broadway and Congress Avenue reveals where the store will be moving: to the Wilton Mall in Springs 2015.

In the window of the Talbot's on
Broadway in Saratoga Springs is a note
alerting people to their impending move.

Executive Editor Barbara Lombardo, who likes to shop local, snapped this photo during a downtown walk on New Year's Day, when quite a few stores were actually open.

That block of street-level retail on the south end of downtown marked a significant improvement to Broadway. It was once the site of one of the city's massive hotels, but after that it was a parking lot with a strip mall anchored by a Woolworth's. The mostly chain stores on the ground floor created some buzz when they arrived, with national names competing against the locally owned businesses that make shopping in Saratoga Springs unique. But there seemed to be room for both.