Costco coming to Oceanside

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In addition, Lanning said, local businesses will have to compete with the retail giant, which has approximately 650 stores throughout the world, including one with a gas station that opened earlier this year in Riverhead.

“It’s a store that people go to for a particular item and everything else is an impulse buy,” he said. “If somebody sees a forty-pound piece of cheese, that may hurt me because I sell cheese too.”

Lanning noted that chain stores like Staples and Kohl’s have done well in Oceanside, and while they have increased traffic, that’s because they have attracted a lot of people to the area.

Simon said that any new development in Oil City is “a step up,” he has higher aspirations for the area, which is located right off Hog Island Channel. “Since it is no longer an oil terminal, it’s time to redevelop the waterfront there, which has some beautiful views, for other purposes such as retail, entertainment, cultural, recreation. Oceanside has plenty of retail, but not one nice waterfront restaurant.”

While Costco got its approval to build in Oceanside, it has no so far received the tax breaks from Nassau County it sought. Costco applied for tax exemptions through the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency in June, but IDA’s executive director Joseph Kearney said the board has taken “no action” on the application.

Costco estimates that the Oceanside store will employ 200 people.

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