[caption id="attachment_4200" align="alignright" width="412"] An exterior shot of the Franconia Village Store[/caption] The iconic Franconia Village Store changed ownership yesterday (Wednesday, March 22nd)!  After over 40 years of stewardship under the Heath family, the popular gathering place in downtown Franconia, NH sold to Suhit "Bob" Patel and his partners. Bob recently purchased the Bethlehem Village Store and saw an opportunity to expand his offerings to Franconia.  While he is not expecting to make any major changes to the store there will be some expansion of the deli and the store will eventually offer fresh meats.  Bob told me, "This has worked quite well for us in Bethlehem and we are looking forward to keeping many of the same traditions of the Franconia Village Store with some added features." Steve Heath, the former owner, is pleased with what the new owners have planned. Steve will be seen assisting the new owners with the transition for another couple of weeks.  After that, we trust he will stop in, sit on the other side of the counter and join in the daily chatter!  Please join all of us at Peabody & Smith Realty and the Franconia community as we welcome Bob Patel to town and wishing Steve all the best as he begins to enjoy a whole new life! We were pleased to help.