SamPratt.com

According to one well-placed source, the Harney & Sons tea company may be the next occupant of the huge North Bay factory building recently abandoned by Phoenix Hudson.

Since the departure of the Emsig Button factory in 2001, the building has seen a long series of potential suitors and short-term tenants come and go. Harney & Sons would presumably use the space for production, storage and distribution.

However, the rumor is somewhat tempered by the fact that the company has long been ensconced in Millerton (and founded over the State line in Salisbury). In addition to its flagship retail store and café, Harney & Sons already has over 150 employees and a 90,000-square-foot warehouse in Millerton. So put this in the wait-and-see file.