Staples Shuttered; CVS to Move In



Shuttered Staples store as of July 5th at
Tarrytown Rd & Old Kensico Road.



After announcing several months ago of the impending closure of the Staples store at the corner of Rt 119 and Old Kensico Roads, the Staples organization finally put the key in the lock and turned it one final time. The nearest Staples store for the neighborhood is in Elmsford or all the way down Central Avenue in the same shopping center as Racconelli's (formerly Pizza & Brew) and TGI Fridays. Food establishments seem to fair better than other types of retail ones in Greenburgh.

You may recall the property was a restaurant called The Ground Round which succumbed to a fire and was subsequently torn down. Then, an upscale store named Conran's moved into the space, similar to what we have now with Crate and Barrel or Pier One. After that was CompUSA, the computer superstore, who signed a twenty-year lease - only they didn't make it that long. When Staples moved in, the property was cleaned up and added a nice touch to the neighborhood. Soon, CVS, will renovate and open another one of their stores here. CVS is a chain of pharmacy/convenience stores that originated in Rhode Island as the Consumer Value Store.

ABG spoke to a Staples executive under the promise of anonymity to find out why this store was closing. Simply, they weren't bringing in the revenue that was expected or comparable to other Staples stores. Retail sales were suffering as residents from the area also purchased more supplies online, usually with free shipping/delivery. Another complaint was there were numerous obstacles and fees in place from the Town of Greenburgh, making it more difficult than other areas to operate a retail store. He added closing or moving the operation was the path of least resistance for them.

In anticipation of closing numerous stores, Staples also shut down their distribution center in Port Chester and laid off their delivery drivers. They switched to the latest fad which is to offer them their old job, at less money, and work as independent contractors to the company. The problem with that, he said, was most of those workers were not highly paid to the point where they could afford to purchase and operate their own trucks, doing per diem deliveries.

Sadly, we've said this before about businesses in our Town, but once again another one bites the dust. Once our Town Board begins to understand what it takes to run a business and stops the incessant taxation through fees, fines and regulations, maybe then we can start to see A Better Greenburgh.