Shop Rite and connecting Raymour & Flanigan store was once a “monument to blight”

Pictured from left to right at the new Shop Rite Supermarket in Patchogue are Supervisor Mark
 Lesko, Assemblyman Dean Murray, President of Janson Supermarkets LLC Harry Janson,
 Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri and Rob Calarco from Suffolk County Legislator Jack
Eddington’s office.

Farmingville, NY – On October 27, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko joined other elected officials for a walk through and reception at the new Shop Rite Supermarket in Patchogue. The store is located at 95 Sunrise Highway, on the site of the former Home Depot store, which was identified as one of 10 “monuments to blight” in Supervisor Lesko’s “Blight to Light” initiative. The renovated building also houses a new Raymour and Flanigan furniture store, which was opened earlier this year.

“This beautiful, state-of-the-art supermarket completes the transformation of a formerly vacant, graffiti-ridden building into one that creates hundreds of jobs and has a positive impact on the local economy,” said Supervisor Lesko, “I welcome Shop Rite to Patchogue.”

“I am very pleased to have Shop Rite move in and join Raymour and Flanigan on what was once a blighted property,” said Councilman Tim Mazzei. “Shop Rite is a quality brand that brings good jobs into the community and a gives a much needed boost to the economy that will greatly benefit our residents.”

The former Home Depot building was vacated in the fall of 2007 and was long seen as a highly visible blight to Brookhaven. Over the years, vandalism further deteriorated the vacant structure, which is visibly situated along Sunrise Highway. Raymour and Flanigan, which opened earlier this year, occupies 50,000 square feet of the building. They are the largest furniture retailer in the Northeast and a family-owned business that has been operating for over 60 years. The new Shop Rite supermarket occupies the remaining 70,015 square feet. Supervisor Lesko introduced the Blight to Light initiative to provide incentives for the redevelopment of vacant eyesores in Brookhaven communities. The Town partnered with the Industrial Development Agency to create a film, which can be viewed on Brookhaven’s website, which portrays blight as opportunity.

The Town has seen some recent successes with Blight to Light, including the demolition of the Plaza Theatre, in the community since the 1980’s, and the redevelopment plan of the abandoned UA Theater in Coram, which will create over 400 jobs. The Town also participated in the re-opening of Buckley’s Irish Pub in Center Moriches. On October 25, the Town purchased the long vacant Nessenger car dealership property in East Patchogue, which will be demolished and the land preserved for open space.

For more information on blight to light, visit www.brookhaven.org and click on Blight to Light in the “In the Spotlight” section.

Before and after photos of the Home Depot property in Patchogue which is now occupied by the Raymour and Flanigan furniture store and the new Shop Rite supermarket.

Division of Public Information * Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone (631) 451-6595 • Fax (631) 451-6258