Plans by convenience-store retailer Stewart’s Shops to fill the void of a now-shuttered supermarket in Marcellus, New York, are back on track after the village initially imposed a six-month moratorium on new developments.
Stewart’s Shops applied for and received an exemption to the moratorium, Robin Cooper, public relations manager at Stewart’s Shops, told CSP. The village’s zoning board of appeals, planning board and village board all approved the new development July 22. Marcellus is a suburb of Syracuse, New York.
Nojaim Brothers and Stewart’s Shops closed on the $1.7 million sale on July 16, Cooper said.
- Stewart’s Shops is No. 23 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Stewart’s Shops will demolish the building and construct a new convenience store of 4,500 square feet, “with a little extra for groceries in there,” along with fuel pumps, Cooper said. A regular Stewart’s Shops is about 4,000 square feet.
“Within a year the shop will be up,” he said. “It takes us 10 to 12 weeks to build.” First, however, the site must be inspected. “The business has been there a long time. They have to check for any surprises there might be underground and all that stuff.”
This will be the chain’s fifth shop in Onondaga County and first in Marcellus. Cooper said.
“This is a pretty vibrant community,” he said. “We’re pretty elated to be a part of it.”
The Nojaim Brothers grocery store closed this spring after more than four decades in business.
This isn’t the first time Stewart’s Shops has added a grocery section in an area losing a supermarket. Cooper said Stewart’s Shops started doing this about five years ago.
Founded in 1945, Ballston Spa, New York-based Stewart’s Shops is an employee- and family-owned convenience-store chain known for its milk, ice cream, coffee, Easy Food meals and other convenience items. There are 360 Stewart’s Shops in upstate New York and southern Vermont.
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