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Old trade, new tricks
There used to be a special bookstore in New Paltz, N.Y., that Dr. Joel Fischer frequented. He’d spend hours there. The Ariel Bookstore was owned by patients of his; aside from returning the favor as a loyal customer, he had a fondness for the shop. Then, the bookstore closed.
Looking back on it now, there’s no way Dr. Fischer could’ve ever predicted how things would turn out. There’s no way he’d know that after practicing in New Paltz for more than 30 years - the last 20 in the space in which he assumed he’d retire - that he’d be told he had three months to vacate. There’s no way he’d know that at the age of 60 he’d embrace the possibility of opening a new dental practice. Late in 2009, however, that’s exactly what happened.

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Dr. Fischer had always been told his practice was an anchor of the building it was in and the space was his for as long as he’d want it. As it turned out, that wasn’t the case.
“I had no desire to move. I wasn’t at a point where I was ready to retire. It was a matter of, ‘What do I do now? I’ve got to continue my practice,’” Fischer said. “It was certainly a rather overwhelming situation to be in.”
As a first step, Dr. Fischer called Steve Dambra, his Patterson representative, to begin discussing his options. In short order, the entire Patterson team was on board. There was no question in which city Dr. Fischer wanted to house his practice. “I wanted to stay within my town,” he said. “I didn’t feel a move outside my area would have kept my patients coming. I’d been practicing in New Paltz since ’79. I didn’t really want to start over in another place.”
The practice he was vacating had 1,400 square feet that seemed to be shrinking. Dr. Fischer said he knew he needed more space. The properties he was finding, though, weren’t significantly bigger - and those that were used two levels. “I wasn’t about to spend my day climbing up and down stairs. In terms of properties available with greater than 1,600 square feet on a single floor, there was not a lot to choose from. Not only in terms of the quality of the building, but also the layout of the building and the location.”
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Four Years in the Making

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