Community Is Shocked
by David Flint
“It’s a shock to the community!” said Town Board Member Bruce Baldwin, reacting to the news that the New Lebanon Supermarket will close this weekend.
James Lyles, who has operated the store since 1982, said he would probably continue through the weekend with a sale of 20% off everything. After that he plans to retire and will leave the area. He gave two reasons for closing
the store. He is 67 years old and feels it is time for retirement. Secondly, he said, the poor economy has devastated a lot of small businesses such as his. His costs are up but the volume of business is down.
He did not know what, if anything, will happen with the building that he has been leasing from a company in New York City. Lyles said he has been trying to find someone to take over the store, but he thinks it’s a lost cause trying to find someone willing to take on a 12-hour a day, seven days a week business that is no longer economically feasible. “It’s nobody’s fault. Time marches on. We are a thing of the past, a victim of evolution,” he said, unable to compete with the big supermarket chains now operating massive complexes in which the produce department is bigger than Lyles’ whole store. He said that when he came to the area in 1976 there were probably 100 independent food stores in the Albany marketing area. Now he thinks there may be no more than five. “They have everything in these big stores but an undertaker and a doctor, and people have gotten used to it,” he said. “A guy
like me gets shoved aside. There’s no dinosaurs left either.” Lyles concluded, “I’ve had a great time here for 27 years, but financially it doesn’t work anymore.”
Lyles said he will be talking with the company that leases out the building, but he did not know at this time whether they might have someone lined up to take over the building.
No Price Chopper
A rumor had been spreading around town that the EZ Mart next door was negotiating with the Golub Corporation with the aim of converting that small convenience store to a Price Chopper. Proprietor Sunny Kumar said it’s not true. He will, however, be converting his Mobil gasoline pumps to the Sunoco brand and will participate in the Price Chopper Fuel AdvantEdge® program. Under this program, for every $50 people spend at Price Chopper they can earn a ten-cent per gallon discount at participating Sunoco stations.
Kumar pointed out that besides the gas discounts, there will be a general upgrade and improvement of the fuel facilities. With the discount people can save money on gas, and the Town can collect more tax dollars. Kumar has been in business at the EZ Mart for the past five years. He said he has been happy here dealing with a lot of nice local people. Business has been very good, he said, except for the slowdown the last eight or nine months. He said he always has some specials to bring people in, and, “I’ve got the best meats in town.”
Bruce Baldwin said the closing is a shock to a lot of local people because as long as he can remember there has always been a supermarket in New Lebanon. He recalled that Al Redden operated one in the building that is now the EZ Mart before Lyles opened the bigger store. He suggested that if residents have concerns about how they will be able to do their big shopping, they should email him at bbaldwin@townofnewlebanon.com. If the closing appears to be a problem for a number of residents, Baldwin said he would present it to the Town Board and see if they can do something about it such as organizing a carpool setup or a shuttle to Pittsfield.