DeCicco Family Markets principals were joined in Armonk by state and local government officials Oct. 22 to mark the ceremonial groundbreaking of an 18,000-square-foot grocery store that will become the centerpiece of the long-awaited Armonk Square development.
The Armonk store will be the family”™s ninth and will represent the third new opening in the past three years, said John DeCicco Jr., president of the DeCicco Family Markets.
DeCicco said the developers of Armonk Square, John and Dominick Dioguardi and Alan Zaretsky, hope to begin work in January, with construction of the grocery store likely taking between 12 and 15 months.
After the Rhode Island-based grocery store giant A&P Fresh announced it would not be renewing its lease in downtown Armonk when it expired at the end of 2011, the developers of Armonk Square filed an amended site plan this past summer that included space for a grocery store.
The town of North Castle proceeded to expedite the planning and zoning approvals processes and on Oct. 12 the town planning board approved the amended site plan, clearing the final hurdle.
The prospect of having a store in a downtown area was a major plus for the local grocery company, DeCicco Jr. said.
“We love being in the center of downtowns and we thought it was the right fit for the company,” he said. “It”™s a downtown store, which is very hard to find in Westchester.”
Founded in 1972 by brothers John Sr., Joe and Frank DeCicco as a small corner market in the Bronx, DeCicco Family Markets continues to be family owned. It has six stores in Westchester and one each in Rockland and Putnam counties.
“It”™s really important that we all have a vested interest in the success of the company,” DeCicco Jr. said. “We”™re personally working with the brokers and we”™re personally working with the distributors.”
