Another 7-Eleven for Valley Stream

Valley Stream residents will be seeing some new additions and subtractions at the intersection of Merrick Road and Cottage Street in the coming months. A medical office is replacing the New York Golf Center location, Valley Stream Bicycle Center is moving to Lynbrook and a 7-Eleven convenience store will be replacing the Blockbuster Video store.

The latter part of those three changes has some residents concerned. Another convenience store in the Valley Stream has David Sabatino, co-owner of Sip This on Rockaway Avenue, thinking that small businesses in the area may suffer because of it.

Sabatino said that Valley Stream’s newest 7-Eleven might alter people’s spending habits. If they usually buy their coffee and newspaper at a local deli, they could make the same purchase at 7-Eleven, which would have a negative affect on local business in Valley Stream, he said. “7-Eleven is not a local business,” Sabatino said. “It’s a franchise.”

Margaret Chabris, the director of public relations and marketing communications for 7-Eleven, said the newest location in Valley Stream will open in the summer or fall of this year. She added that the lease for the location was signed in late 2011 but there are no candidates to franchise the store at this time.

According to the Valley Stream Building Department Superintendent Tom McAleer, 7-Eleven filed an application in July to make the location a convenience store. From there, the application went to the Board of Zoning Appeals where it was approved on Sept. 20. McAleer said he hasn’t heard anything from 7-Eleven’s staff since the application was approved. Blockbuster closed this week.

When the latest 7-Eleven is open for business it will mark the franchise’s fifth location with a Valley Stream zip code. While local business owners like Sabatino say the community already has enough convenience stores, village officials say that as long as a person thinks they have a viable and legal business option, it will get approved.

“Just like any other business — restaurants, lounges, coffee shops — if the individual feels that there’s a market for it there and they can make money, I can’t prevent that from happening,” McAleer said.

McAleer also said that the entrance for the 7-Eleven would be moved to the west side of the store, facing the parking lot. Sabatino is concerned that the increase in cars turning in and out of the 7-Eleven parking lot would make Merrick Road tougher to navigate than it already is.

“Merrick Road already has its traffic problems during rush hour, I think this will only add to it,” Sabatino said. “I think in terms of loitering, there will be an increase in that. There will be an increase in garbage along the street and an increase in noise levels for the people who live in that area.”

Since the new 7-Eleven does not have a franchisee, the process of hiring a staff has not started yet. Despite not knowing who will make up the store’s staff, Charbis said the new location will benefit nearby community members. “We believe this new store will serve the residents of Valley Stream who live and work close to this store’s location,” Chabris said.

Sabatino said he thinks the new 7-Eleven will not improve the Valley Stream community, but he hopes in the future that people will speak up when they have an opinion about their community. “I understand that there’s no way really to dictate what goes there,” Sabatino said, “but I’m certainly one that thinks that community input needs to be out there and people need to be aware. They should go to the public hearings and voice their opinion.”