4 replies to this topic

[Rail Paul]

Maybe. Although Wegman's has publicly acknowledged that they don't have NJ on the top of their list for expansion, it seems that property in Montvale is under review.

Although the Woodbridge and Bridgewater stores are huge (about 75,000 sf), newer stores like that in Stafford VA exceed 100,000 sf. Unless Wegman's moves an existing license, this store would not have liquor inside the facility. That's not to say that one of the Wegmans kids wouldn't buy a license and open up a store alongside the supermarket. [ETA clarity]

The DePiero family plans to close their iconic produce market — one of the last of its kind in North Jersey — so that Wegmans can build a store on 27 of the 55 acres. This follows the demise of the nearby Van Riper and Tice farms as the county’s dwindling number of open spaces are acquired for development.

The borough and the county made a strong effort to buy the DePiero land to preserve it.

Owner Glen DePiero declined to give details of the deal Tuesday, but Wegmans has acknowledged that it is interested in a Montvale location, and the company’s website lists the farm address as one of 10 locations along the East Coast for future stores.

DePiero would say only that “we will still be farming, and still be farming in Montvale,” adding that the full plan will be revealed at a meeting of the borough zoning board on May 29. Wegmans plans would need local approvals.

Squeezed by declining revenues, competition from supermarkets and rising costs, the few remaining family farms have found it tough to remain profitable, and difficult to resist lucrative offers to sell.

Montvale

Edited by Rail Paul, 16 May 2012 - 08:35 PM.

[menton1]

Well DePiero's is a shadow of its former self. The produce there is of the same ilk as the supermarket. Pricing is a bit higher than the supermarket. They have a couple of concessions that they lease out in the back, those don't really complement the business.

It seems that the lot size fits in with Wegman's needs-- in the past it's been said that they turned down most of NNJ because there was nothing in the size lot they wanted. This one seems to fit that bill.

[Rail Paul]

In a public presentation before the council by RTKL Associates of Washington, D.C., the current concept for the property at the corner of West Grand Avenue and Mercedes Drive includes a 125,000-square-foot Wegmans store, 50,000 square feet of additional retail and a 24,000-square-foot garden center.

The retail stores would be located where the DePiero’s Farm Market is now. Wegmans would sit at the center of the site, and the garden center would be near Philips Parkway.

Reaction from residents was mixed.

“It looks like a concrete jungle,” said Tom Harris, a 12-year Montvale resident. “The traffic on the weekends will be a nightmare.”

However, Wegmans proved to be a draw for others.

“It’s not a home run, it’s a grand slam,” said Jim Linekin of neighboring Pearl River, N.Y. He said the Wegmans store alone would likely draw people from as far away as Clifton and Sloatsburg, N.Y.

Borough officials have been working with the DePieros and their hired professionals on the plan for more than a year, Mayor Roger Fyfe said.

He asked the public to email him and members of the council with feedback about the proposal.

“It’s very conceptual,” Fyfe said. “We all have to chew on it.”

“It’s important to understand the farm is not going to be there much longer and something will happen,” the mayor added. “We want to be a part of what happens to it.”

The design has an agricultural flair, using silos, barn-like roof lines, stacked stone foundations, wood siding and accessories, such as tractors and windmills, that would evoke a farm feel.

Sidewalks would ring the development and connect it to the municipal building. The plans also call for two small park-like spaces – one at the corner of Mercedes Drive and West Grand Avenue and another next to a detention basin farther down West Grand.

North Jersey

[Rail Paul]

Town of Montvale considers rezoning the land to allow Wegman's to build their new store.

 

The traffic issue is yet to be resolved.

 

http://www.northjers..._on_agenda.html

[menton1]

Town of Montvale considers rezoning the land to allow Wegman's to build their new store.

 

The traffic issue is yet to be resolved.

 

http://www.northjers..._on_agenda.html

The people with the big  money usually win in these matters.  

 

Sad, especially when you remember that in that area there used to be multiple farms with home grown stuff.  Easier on the eyes as well.  

 

Soon, every inch of Bergen will have some cement on it.