After months of…
By Kathianne Boniello
If an extensive summertime renovation goes as planned, residents of Little Neck and Douglaston could be shopping for Thanksgiving turkeys at a new Stop & Shop Supermarket, a spokeswoman for the Boston-based company said last week.
After months of consideration Stop & Shop officially agreed in April to take over the site of the Grand Union supermarket at the intersection of Marathon Parkway and Northern Boulevard. The store, which features a large parking lot, has been closed since October 2000 when Grand Union went bankrupt.
Stop & Shop spokeswoman Kelly O’Connor said Friday the company was in the midst of a comprehensive renovation of the former Grand Union property.
“We’re doing a complete update of the building facade and a total renovation of the inside,” she said. The only expansion of the supermarket will be to the sales area, O’Connor said.
She said the store was expected to open by late fall, barring any construction delays.
The shuttering of the Little Neck Grand Union left residents in Little Neck, Douglaston and Douglas Manor north of the Long Island Expressway without a local supermarket for nearly two years.
Douglaston Civic Association President Eliott Socci praised Stop & Shop for its efforts.
“I think they’re doing the right thing,” Socci said of the company’s renovation work.
Area residents, led by the Little Neck Pines Civic Association, began a concerted campaign to bring Stop & Shop to the area. The campaign included a packed civic meeting with Stop & Shop executives in October as well as hundreds of letters from the community to the company. Stop & Shop got a similar response when it handed out a survey asking residents to describe what kind of supermarket they would like to see.
“We got a tremendous amount of feedback from the community,” said O’Connor. “A lot of the survey responses helped us determine the format of the store.”
The new store will include typical supermarket departments such as meat, dairy and produce, she said, and a deli counter, a seafood department with a lobster tank, a natural foods section and a department that will feature prepared foods to go.
“We’re really excited about building the store and operating in Little Neck,” she said.
Renovations will also include a repaving and repainting of the parking lot, updated lighting in the parking lot and a new sidewalk in the front of the property, O’Connor said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
