MONTGOMERY – The recent closures of the Grand Union, once one of just two large grocery stores in the township, along with the Montgomery Diner and the Hit or Miss clothing store, have left many smaller businesses in the Princeton North Shopping Center without a prime source of customers.
By: Helen Pettigrew
By
The Princeton Packet
Monday, July 2, 2001
MONTGOMERY – The recent closures of the Grand Union, once one of just two large grocery stores in the township, along with the Montgomery Diner and the Hit or Miss clothing store, have left many smaller businesses in the Princeton North Shopping Center without a prime source of customers.
Meanwhile, the Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. has confirmed that it now holds the lease for the former Grand Union building, but hasn’t decided when or if it will take up residence in the building.
For the owners of smaller stores, it won’t be too soon. Business has dwindled since the Grand Union left, they say.
"Absolutely – right away we noticed," said Helen Suchan, who works at Capricorn II Hair Designers, a few shops away from the empty Grand Union building.
Ms. Suchan said some employees have left the salon because business became so slow.
Her associate, Bonnie Kenney, said, "It’s affected us. I mean the parking lot, you can see, is empty. They used to come get their car fixed (at the Goodyear Tire Center) and get their hair done and go shopping while it was being fixed."
Grand Union filed for bankruptcy early this year. Stop & Shop was part of a consortium of retailers, led by C & S Wholesale Grocers of Battleboro, Vt., which bid for the assets of the company. C & S Wholesale did not return phone calls over several weeks.
"Currently, we are evaluating the marketplace to decide what opportunities may exist at this location," said Stop & Shop spokeswoman Kelly O’Connor.
Robin Odabash of Princeton North Realty, the landlord of the shopping center, also said Stop & Shop told her it is not sure when or if it plans to come to Montgomery.
"They have a lot of stores that they’ve taken over with the Grand Union," Ms. Odabash said. "They’ve got a lot on their plate and we’re just one of them."
Stop & Shop took over the Grand Union lease March 31, according to Ms. Odabash, and Hit or Miss, a chain which also went bankrupt, closed April 17.
For now, many store owners say they are just trying to get by.
Katie Suh, owner of Princeton Health Food, said, "This is a unique store and they come for what they want. So I just need that extra foot traffic. That’s what’s missing."
Anita Gesek, owner of Anita’s Hallmark Shop, said customers miss having a choice in food stores and dislike the high traffic near the Shop-Rite store in the Montgomery Shopping Center next door.
"What I’m finding mostly is that the customers are extremely upset," she said. "They have been complaining it is really an inconvenience for them and they miss it terribly," she added.
Husband and co-owner John Gesek said business went hand in hand with the Grand Union.
"You just don’t have the evening traffic you usually have," he said. "It’s quieted down quite a bit. You have your lunch crowd and that’s it."
Betty Ward, owner of the Wild Bird Habitat store, said she has noticed a decrease in customers since the closure of the Grand Union and the diner, where her shop was advertised on all the place mats.
"One of the things that’s keeping us going is that we are somewhat of a specialty shop," she said. Her store sells bird feeders and other items to attract wildlife to backyards.
Remaining stores in the center have been left to come up with creative ways to bring people in.
Ms. Gesek said she has been holding promotions – lowering the prices of postcards and offering coupons – and she has distributed fliers around town. She said she started her summer sale much sooner than usual and has been doing a lot more advertising and "a lot of praying."
Orix Credit Alliance, the financing company for the Montgomery Diner, did not respond to questions regarding the diner.