spa closed

LACONIA — The Laconia Spa is one of four N.H. convenience stores forced to close because its owner ran into financial troubles with one of them.

The "biggest little store in town" is owned by Patrick Collins of Strafford who also owns stores in Somersworth, Strafford and Pittsfield.

He told WMUR that the Pittsfield store — which was financed through the Southeast Economic Development Center in Dover and an other bank had failed.

He said that bank, which he did not identify, was working with him to work out of his troubles but the SEDC would not.

He said the SEDC seized the assets of all three of his stores without notice, putting 34 people into the jobless ranks.

Collins bought the Laconia spa in 2006 and has operated the Laconia mainstay since then. This spring he added a line of fresh cooked burgers, submarine sandwiches and Mexican food.

Until today, the Laconia Spa had been in continual operation for about 65 years. A Laconia icon, the store was known throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a paperback book store on one side and a convenience store on the other.

As part of his recent remodel, Collins gutted the store and replaced much of its lighting, floors and displays racks.

On its Website, the SEDC says it is a non-for-profit development corporation that works with commercial banks to finance a variety of small businesses, primarily in Strafford County and greater Manchester.

The SEDC says it manages a revolving loan fund and works with the USDA Rural Development, the business Finance Authority of N.H. and the N.H. Community Development Finance Authority.