By TIFFANY RAZZANO
, one of the largest empty spaces in the village. With a handful of new, smaller retailers making Rockville Centre their home, some believe that more chain stores like Ace may consider joining them.
P.C. Richard, which already has a store at 307 Sunrise Highway, expressed an interest last fall in expanding its showroom by renting additional space on Sunrise. The former Cineplex Odeon Cinemas, at 340 Sunrise, has been empty since last January, but Michael Shenker, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said he hears that Commerce Bank is interested in the location. "If that's true, it would be tremendous," Shenker said. "It would be a wonderful addition to the village. ... I'm most excited about Ace Hardware coming into town. It will make a wonderful addition to the community. For myself and other residents, it will be wonderful to have a chain store come in."
Shenker says that the arrival of Ace could be the impetus the business district needs. "We're always looking for more anchors to come in here and solidify the vacant space," he said. "What usually happens is when one comes in ... others see the space filling up with the type of businesses they want to be surrounded by. They all feed off each other. It serves our goal of connecting commerce and community."
Cristy Schaefer, one of Ace Hardware's owners, is excited to be coming to Rockville Centre, which she calls "a nice, middle-class area that seemed to be in need of a hardware store." Having grown up in Nassau County, Schaefer was familiar with the area, and the more research she and her partners did, the more they realized what a good fit the village was for their store. "Every time we needed a permit for something, we had to go to a different building, which means we got to meet lots of people," she said. "Everyone was so nice, which we didn't expect. Other towns are curt and just want to push you out the door. In Rockville Centre, they all seemed to want our business and help us through the process."
Though Schaefer acknowledged that there are a number of empty storefronts in the village, as she and her partners prepare for Ace's April grand opening, she has been approached with questions about the area by other business owners interested in renting neighboring spaces. "I bet by next year this will be a different place," she said. "I have a funny feeling. I've seen it happen before in Huntington. ... People see one person move in, then others want to get in on it. ... It seems like all of a sudden, stores want to be here. Once the ball starts rolling, it all goes with it."
"The village will only continue to see positive changes to its business district," said Helen Munster, whose family-owned Raven Family Real Estate has owned the property Ace is renting since the mid-1920s. "A lot more stores have been rented - stores that were all unoccupied six months ago," Munster said. "A lot of new business is coming into the village now. I think that the business along the highway is great."
The reinstatement of the Beautification Committee, co-chaired by Cyd Charrow, who is also the director of Senior Services, should also play a part in making the village a more desirable place for businesses. One of the subcommittees will focus on beautifying the business district, particularly along the east end of Sunrise Highway, making it more attractive not only for residents, but for shoppers from outside the area, business owners and employees. "The idea really is to work with all the merchants in the area to try to make the area more beautiful and more cohesive with the whole village," Charrow said.
A parking committee has also been meeting since last spring, working to come up with solutions to the village's parking problems. It is evident that the tight parking can have a detrimental effect on the business district, as businesses routinely complain that there is not enough parking for their employees and shoppers struggle to find parking close to where they want to shop.
Brian Reardon, the owner of Monster Music, which opened at 202 Merrick Road last fall, says the parking situation may have scared away other potential business owners, but having grown up here, he was used to it. "People from Rockville Centre know parking in the village is a pain," he said. "Everyone knows what they're dealing with." Despite parking concerns, Rockville Centre's role as a destination for southeastern Nassau County visitors attracted Reardon to the area.
Others no longer seem to consider parking challenges something that will keep businesses out of the village. Munster said that parking here is no different than anywhere else. "That's how it is everywhere," she said. "Wherever you shop, whether there's metered parking or not, you always have to ride around before finding a spot. ... There isn't anyplace anymore where you can just slip into a parking space in front of a store."
Schaefer, who also co-owns a store in Queens, is mostly unconcerned with parking, since the Ace location has a lot directly behind it. Her only complaint is that employee lots tend to be a few blocks away from where people work, but, she said, she would rather walk than take a spot away from a potential customer. "People need to learn to walk a little bit," Schaefer said. "But the actual amount of shopper spots seems to be sufficient. I'm not feeling that there aren't enough spaces."
"The parking somehow always finds a way to resolve itself," Shenker said. "If you're smart about where to park, it's not going to scare [business owners] off."
