Work on Merrick Stop & Shop begins; demolition under way

A long-delayed remodeling of the Merrick Mall Stop & Shop began this month, Robert Bencivenga, Stop & Shop’s senior director of real estate for the New York metropolitan area, has confirmed.

Construction workers were using heavy machinery last Friday afternoon to demolish a wall at the back of the building, near where the nightclub Escapes formerly stood.

The renovation will expand the grocery store’s footprint to 36,000 square feet, Bencivenga estimated. He expressed optimism, though not certainty, that the work would be done before the holiday season.

“We’ll keep on going at it until we’re done,” he said. “… Now it’s full steam ahead."