New Life for One Supermarket, End of the Line for Another
An area supermarket celebrated a fresh start this week while another will have its doors shuttered with apparently no new operator set to take over.
The former Mount Kisco A&P on North Bedford Road reopened Thursday at 7 a.m. as Stop & Shop following a five-day conversion period. The roughly 70,000-square-foot store was the 25th and final A&P that Stop & Shop took over in the past month and a half in the metropolitan area, said company spokeswoman Arlene Putterman.
Lynn Scavullo, Stop & Shop’s director of core support, said location, size and the surrounding community’s needs were the key factors in bidding for the store during A&P’s bankruptcy proceedings. It acquired the store for $25 million.
“We have stores nearby, but not that close by, and definitely the community,” Scavullo said. “The community needs a good supermarket. I think that was definitely what attracted us here.”
The store’s size will allow for the store to maintain a bakery, deli and prepared foods sections, she said.
District Director Kevin Conrad said the Mount Kisco Stop & Shop brought in all of the A&P employees who wanted to remain, although some searched for other jobs and left because of the uncertainty during the bankruptcy process. There are currently 128 employees, but the store is hiring and management hopes to reach 170 workers.
Meanwhile, several miles away at Millwood Plaza, that shopping center’s A&P is set to close on Nov. 30, The Examiner learned this week. There had been hope that brothers Ruben and Jaime Luna, who own several supermarkets in the tristate area and had acquired the lease last month, would make plans for an operator to take over the space, New Castle Supervisor Robert Greenstein stated last week.
But that arrangement has apparently fallen through because of a disagreement over how much income would be guaranteed to the landlord.
On Wednesday, many of the store’s shelves were bare, with shoppers scooping up what items remained at up to 50 percent off regular price.
Robert Newman of Yorktown said he periodically stopped in when he needed some groceries in a hurry. No longer having that option, even if the store was relatively small and had deteriorated in recent years, would be inconvenient, he said.
“I shop here because it’s convenient, but it sucks,” said Newman who plans to do more of his shopping at Trader Joe’s in Danbury. “I came in here to get what I can get. It’s not my favorite place to go.”
Dodd Farber, owner of Dodd’s Liquor City in Millwood Plaza, said while the space will go dark for now, he is hopeful that some operator will soon move in because it is an attractive location near several different communities.
Although a small space of about 20,000 square feet, the right type of market will succeed there, he said.
“It’s a desirable location for a high-end food store that will prosper,” said Farber who added that he doesn’t believe his business will suffer without a supermarket because it’s a destination store.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/