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Tanglewood plan jolts shop owners
(by Joan Demirjian - December 10, 2008)
Tanglewood plan jolts shop owners
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
An expansion of the Giant Eagle supermarket is being proposed at the Tanglewood Square shopping center in Bainbridge. If the plan is carried out, it will mean the shuffling of some shops along the south side of the main shopping-center building.
Raised and Glazed Donuts, Postnet Postal and Business Services, Grand Slam Sports Cards, Lana Fur and Leather and the Charter One bank are within the area where building expansion would take place.
Giant Eagle has submitted a tentative plan to the Bainbridge Zoning Department. Zoning Inspector Michael Joyce said it calls for expanding outward on the south side of the existing building. Variances would be required, and the proposal would have to go to the board of zoning appeals for review, he said.
The preliminary proposal calls for an expansion of 12,000 square feet, rebuilding the front of the Giant Eagle store and installing a drive-through window for prescriptions on the north side.
Some of the existing businesses along the south side would be relocated into the former Spectators bar and restaurant. In addition to Spectators, the former Walgreen Drug Store and a dry-cleaner spaces are vacant there. Five businesses are operating in that section.
Mr. Joyce said he will review the expansion plan and then notify the architects of issues that would need variances. It is up to them to make an application to the board of zoning appeals.
Richard Katz, an owner of the shopping center, told store owners last week that accommodations will be made for those that must move.
Robert and Jeni Jones have operated their Postnet Postal and Business Services for 10 years at the site. They said they were told they must move by Jan. 15. Until then, they will be serving their customers, Mr. Jones said.
It's not likely that they will reopen in another site, he said. "To move our franchise would be like starting all over. From a business standpoint, we are going to have to find another source of income," Mr. Jones said. "And we have to sell off some assets, including counters, computers and a printer." Anyone is invited to look at them during store hours, he said.
Jodi and Robert Schaef are owners of Raised and Glazed Donuts. Mrs. Schaef said she has been offered a space in the old Spectators area. Originally, she thought she would have to move out of the shopping center, she said. "It was such a huge shock," she said of the notification that the stores must move. She was one of the last to find out, she said. She was told by Mr. Katz that Giant Eagle's plan is still very tentative, she added.
The move will be costly, even though the proposed relocation space is nearby, Mrs. Schaef said. "It's very costly to move all the bakery equipment. And I'm going to have to shut down to move." She said she believes Giant Eagle should help with the move.
"The best part of this business has been the people," she said, noting that the neighboring store owners are close knit.
"I'm really attached to the store," she said. "We all gave up so much to go into these businesses."
Mrs. Schaef also was driving a Kenston school bus and was union president for the noncertified staff at the schools. After 18 years, she has resigned as a bus driver.
"I love my customers," Mrs. Schaef said. "It's a fun place to be. I know everyone. It's a wonderful little place."
If the construction moves forward, she wonders how it will affect their businesses, she said. "It's a concern."
Lana Fur and Leather is next to Postnet. Owner Lana Narinsky said she has been promised that she could move to a suitable location in the Tanglewood Square shopping center.
Joseph Hocevar, owner of Grand Slam Sports Cards, said he has been at Tanglewood Square since when it was a mall.
He has been operating without a lease, he said. "I was looking to move out of here anyway. There's no business." He depends on computers and mall shows, as well as walk-by business, he said. But there aren't many would-be customers walking by, because so many stores are closed, he said.
Tanglewood Square owners received township approval to turn the former mall, which was built in the 1960s, into a traditional shopping center in 1991. The work began in 1996. The goal of the reconfiguration was to give the businesses more exposure and visibility, according to Mr. Katz.
The Kresse's Supermarket was the anchor store when the mall opened. It was bought in 1992 by Riser Food Inc. and was a Rini Rego Stop-n-Shop until being acquired by Giant Eagle.
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