The A&P supermarket in the Fleetwood section of Mount Vernon is closing and CVS is coming in, leaving residents without a grocery store within walking distance.
CVS will open an 18,756-square-foot drugstore at 24 W. Grand St., including 4,500 square feet for a grocery retailer to accommodate the residents”™ needs.
“We do have that square footage available to sublease to a grocery vendor and we continue to work with the city to identify a vendor who may want to go into that space,” said Mike DeAngelis, manager of corporate communications for CVS. “Unfortunately, we don”™t have any additional space to offer in order for our own store to be viable.”
CVS does not expect to open until early 2010. Construction is scheduled to begin sometime in 2009.
“We”™re still going through planning and permitting,” DeAngelis said. “We are going to expand the food items that are typically available at a CVS in Mount Kisco, including bread, milk and an expanded selection of food items in addition to the convenience foods that we typically sell.”
There are currently 41 CVS stores in the county.
“What we look for is visible and accessible, convenient locations for drugstores,” DeAngelis said.
Mount Vernon resident Charles Roda has raised questions about outdoor recycling facilities currently outside the A&P. DeAngelis said CVS was not sure if those facilities will continue to operate when the new store opens.
Jeffrey Williams, Mount Vernon planning commissioner, said A&P will close the store in the early months of 2009.
CVS has owned the property since the summer.
“At this point there are no specific (grocery) retailers, but we would hope that others would come forward if they were interested in having a business in the city,” Williams said. “Losing A&P is a blow to the community, but we want to try to make the best of the situation.”
Williams said CVS understands the community”™s desire to have a grocery tenant within its complex that will complement the goods and services it offers.
“We expect that CVS will be a good community partner with us, and we hope that we can work together to make sure the service to the community is not lost,” Williams said.Â
