National Wholesale Liquidators returning to W.H.

All it took was the closure of one seedy hotel to spark business owners into action, or so it appears.

Nearly six months ago the Town of Hempstead razed the Courtesy Hotel to make room for a 150-unit rental apartment complex — The Alexan at West Hempstead Station. Since then, the owner and CEO of National Wholesale Liquidators, Scott Rosen, announced that he is reopening a location in West Hempstead; an area resident proposed the construction of a garden apartment complex in place of a contractor’s yard; and a local supermarket is reportedly relocating to make room for a new establishment.

Rosen expects to reopen the 200,000-square-foot West Hempstead store — previously the company’s flagship store — at 111 Hempstead Turnpike, now known as the vacant Shoppers Village building, on Nov. 22. It had originally opened at the three-floor location in 1994, but shut down and vacated as a result of bankruptcy three years ago. “It’s a long story,” Rosen told the Herald in an interview. “We got caught in the banking squeeze of 2008.”

After closing, National Wholesale Liquidators, a family-run company that operated 47 other stores throughout the region and in New Jersey and Boston, kept its offices in West Hempstead. It has opened 10 other locations since its comeback, but the West Hempstead store will be its first Long Island location.

“We’re very excited about this store,” Rosen said. “When we left the store, the owner of the property wasn’t sure exactly what they wanted to do. It took us two years, but we were able to strike a deal and … come back.”

The store’s return means more jobs — Rosen said he expects to hire about 125 full- and part-time employees — and some area residents are excited about that prospect.