Two anchors are pulling out from the downtown end of Whalley Avenue, while at the other end bagels are returning to a long-vacant spot.
Bruegger’s Bagels plans to open a new bakery-restaurant the first week of December at 1448 Whalley, according to company CEO Jim Greco. It will inhabit the home of the former Westville Kosher Bakery in the plaza at the juncture of Route 69. The kosher bakery closed in 2006; the spot has been vacant ever since.
Meanwhile, the Staples office products store at 84 Whalley has announced it’s closing Nov. 21.
Company spokesperson Amy Shanler declined to give a reason; she said the 11 in-store “associates” at 84 Whalley are being offered jobs at the four other Staples stores within a six-mile radius.
The Staples move has generated speculation and concern because the Rite Aid next door at 60 Whalley closed last month. Both properties are owned by Whalley Avenue Associates, a limited partnership formerly run by New York real estate developer Martin Berger. Berger sold it to a New York surgeon named Monquidh Al-Sawaaf.
Leaders of the Whalley Special Services District and the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) have been trying without success to obtain a sit-down with the Al-Sawaaf or to find out his plans for the two prime properties at the gateway to the Whalley commercial corridor.
Staples was making money and “didn’t want to move,” said Sheila Masterson of the special services district. The company was on a month-to-month lease, which the landlord chose not to renew, Masterson said. (Staples’ Shanler would not confirm or deny that claim.)
“We do seem to think the decision was not Staples’ decision,” said EDC Executive Director Michelle Whelley. “We’re concerned. Any time you have a lack of communication, you’re concerned.”
Whelley’s organization has worked closely with the Whalley Avenue Special Services District this past year to plot a commercial comeback. She said she has asked repeatedly for information about plans for the property. Her group wants to meet with the owner to discuss what’s happening on the avenue, as well, she said. “We will continue to try” to get a meeting, she said.
Reached by phone in New York, Al-Sawaaf referred questions about the properties’ future to Dan Charest, the operating and leasing manager. He also said he’s sure Charest would be “happy” to meet with the Whalley business groups.
“Nobody wishes anything bad for that neighborhood,” Al-Sawaaf said. “If business people have suggestions, bring it to the table. I’m sure Dan will listen to every single one.”
Charest, also reached at the New Hartford office of his Acre Group, denied that Staples wanted to stay in its current spot. He declined to offer details about the nature of its lease.
“Tenants don’t leave unless the market is not supporting them,” he said. “The market has not supported them.”
Charest said there are no plans to raze the existing buildings to pursue a new development. Rather, he’s trying to fill both stores with new tenants, he said. He said he’s currently “talking a number of parties” interested in moving in.
He said he’s happy to sit down with the EDC and special service district to talk about the plans: “Absolutely, I’d love to meet with them.”
Kosher Future?
At 1448 Whalley, Bruegger’s is preparing for its December move. The bakery-restaurant will bring the number of Bruegger’s outlets nationwide to close to 300, according to CEO Greco, who lives in Cheshire. The company had 240 outlets when his company bought it six years ago.
Bruegger’s does not at first plan to have kosher certification for the new Whalley outlet, Greco said. The city’s Jewish community mourned the passing of kosher-supervised Westville Bakery, which had been in business for 34 years at various locations.
Bruegger’s does have a few kosher-certified bakeries elsewhere, Greco said. But, he noted, it’s a complicated process.
“We would like to do that” in Westville, he said. “It’s often difficult given the product selection that we have.”
So at first the outlet will not have supervision, but Bruegger’s plans to make overnight deliveries from a kosher outlet in upstate New York to test the demand, Greco said.
The service at the Bruegger's at the corner of Grove and Church is abysmal. Every time I go in that location they have a whole new set of clueless employees.
Bruegger's product is smaller and more expensive than anything offered by the locally owned bakeries. Support the locals, not the national chains.
Bruegger's wouldn't last in Manhattan for one New York minute. You want an bagel? Try Bagel Buffet on 6th Ave. between 13th and 14h. NOW that's a bagel!