For nearly 35 years, Different Drummer's Kitchen Company was located in Albany's Stuyvesant Plaza. In 2022, the property signed a lease with a new tenant - a national chain called Sur La Table, which sells similar cookware and kitchen items. This left Different Drummer's owner Andrew Meisberger without a location for his store.
Eventually, he was able to strike up a deal with Crossgates Mall. Meisberger decided he would try it for a year at the new location, but he says it's been a struggle maintaining and increasing his customer base. He has decided not to continue, telling the Times Union:
I am so conflicted. I didn’t want to close it, but I couldn’t convince myself that keeping it open was the smart business decision.
It's not known if Meisberger plans on reopening at another location, but he plans to continue his current store in Crossgates until February.
