Big Y Will Be a 'No Show' for Shopping Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

OLD SAYBROOK - Big Y World Class Supermarkets, a proposed anchor to the Max's Place Shopping Center, has terminated its lease forcing developer Ron Lyman to find another grocery store.

The 57-store supermarket chain, based in Springfield, Mass. closed its Waterford location earlier this year citing financial reasons but has invested $11 million in opening new stores in North Branford and Stratford.

Big Y reportedly pulled out of the Old Saybrook project citing a worsening economy, several years of delays, changes to the project, and the Zoning Commission's 2007 approval of a 10,167-square-foot expansion of competitor Super Stop and Shop, currently the only supermarket in town.

Claire D'Amour-Daley, spokesperson for Big Y Supermarkets, could not be reached at press time.

Lyman said that "nothing changed on our end" and that "I have other anchors interested and am in negotiations with them right now. In theory, it will just be just a different name of a grocery store."

At this point, it will take about two to three months to obtain necessary state permits before construction can begin, Lyman said, adding that he is confident that he can get a signed lease from a grocery store during that time.

The 67,693-square-foot building slated for Big Y will instead house another "similar grocery type store," Lyman said, adding that the building will not change in size.

In a letter written to the Old Saybrook Board of Selectmen, Lyman stated that existing approvals and pending applications are not tied to Big Y but are based on a supermarket with the same size and location.

Lyman stated that the purchase agreement he has with the town requires a "grocery store of substantially the same size and configuration with architecture, materials, colors, facades, and signage of the buildings substantially in accordance with preliminary architectural plans."

The agreement requires a grocery store to be there for 10 years.

Based on the size of the building, it is expected that a warehouse club will not move in because they are often much larger.

For example, the average square footage for Costco is 141,000 square feet, while Sam's Clubs can vary from 110,000 to 130,000 square feet.

It is equally unlikely that a specialty-type chain grocery store, large or small, will move in.

Stew Leonard's stores average 113,000-square-feet while Trader Joe's stores average between 6,000 and 12,000 square feet.

Examples of chain supermarkets, whose average size is about the same size as the former Big Y building, include Price Chopper, Shop Rite, and Shaw's.

While some have speculated that the Old Saybrook area cannot support another supermarket, Lyman disagrees.

"The area is underserved by grocery stores and there is room for more than one grocery store in town," Lyman said.

Big Y is not the only store expressing interest in the shopping center before changing course.

Earlier this year, a proposed 20,400-square-foot Bed, Bath, and Beyond store was taken off the drawing board after the chain decreased estimated profits after recently opening a new store in the Crystal Mall in Waterford.

In a previous plan of the shopping center, drawings showed a proposed 21,000-square-foot Borders Books, Music, and Café.

The bookstore was removed from the project after it was denied in December 2006 by the Zoning Commission and subsequently scaled back to include less retail buildings.

Zoning Commission Chairman Robert Friedmann was unavailable at press time.