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Lowes to open Friday
By Paul Crossman
The new Lowes building in Greenport Plaza is slated to open its doors to the public 7 a.m. Friday, with grand opening festivities occurring the following week on Nov. 5.
“Myself and my team are really looking forward to opening the store for Greenport, Hudson, and the surrounding areas,” said Store Manager Gerard Littlejohn. “There’s never been anything like this in Columbia County.” He went on to add that the store currently employs about 114 people, and is looking to bring a few more onto the team.
Though the company itself may be excited to open the new store, not everyone in the area feels the same way. Though she could not be reached for comment before press time, Virginia Martin, an outspoken opponent of the Widewaters development project previously told the Register-Star that she was extremely concerned about the effects the plaza would have on local stores and businesses.
“The Chamber of Commerce came out against tax breaks for Widewaters, and with good reason, because the Widewaters stores would have provided stiff competition for our local businesses, to say nothing of the costs those stores impose on our communities,” said Martin this summer. “A supersized Wal-Mart is competition enough, and by itself will be plenty costly to our area. I hope both Price Chopper and Shop-Rite survive.”
Residents like Martin are worried that the new Lowes could also negatively affect smaller hardware stores that do business in the area, but Herrington’s — who has been part of the Hudson community for decades — is taking a very positive view of the situation.
“In regards to the near opening of the Lowes in Greenport, Herrington’s feels competition is healthy and necessary for businesses to grow,” Hudson store Manager Evan Schieren told the Register-Star in a statement. “As a local business, serving the community for over 100 years, Herrington’s is able to respond to homeowners and contractors needs offering services that our competition does not.”
Schieren went on to say that he felt you can’t put a price tag on the great local service Herrington’s is able to provide.
Aside from the worries about local business, some residents are also concerned about the increase in truck traffic, which has been affecting residents as far away as Kinderhook and Valatie, since the beginning stages of construction.
“The traffic in the village [of Kinderhook] is getting worse,” said one community member at a recent meeting about the increase in truck traffic. “It’s having an economic impact ... people are leaving because of the trucks.”
The Lowes building itself — which contains 103,000 square feet of retail space — has been under construction for more than a year now, and was scheduled to open its doors shortly after Walmart. The initial opening though, was held up for about a month due to what the contractor and Lowes representatives refer to as routine building circumstances.
“With every location, all kinds of factors effect opening day,” said Lowes representative Maureen Rich, adding that even seemingly small things like the weather can push back the date slightly.
Though the soft-opening of Lowes will be this Friday, the official opening ceremonies will commence with the “board cutting” — Lowes’ own version of a ribbon cutting — at 10 a.m. Nov. 5.
This same day the company will also be sponsoring “gift card match day,” to benefit the Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. During this event, Lowes will donate an equal amount of money — up to $5,000 — to the non-profit organization for every gift card purchased.
“It’s a great way for customers to show their support for their local Habitat for Humanity,” said Rich.
The store will contain more than 32,000 items to help customers build and improve their homes, including a garden center.
With fiscal year 2008 sales of $48.2 billion, Lowes Companies Inc. serves approximately 14 million customers a week at more than 1,675 home improvement stores in the United States and Canada.
“We’re really excited,” said Littlejohn. “We walked into the store five weeks ago and it was an empty shell, and by Friday it will be a fully stocked store ready for opening.”
“Myself and my team are really looking forward to opening the store for Greenport, Hudson, and the surrounding areas,” said Store Manager Gerard Littlejohn. “There’s never been anything like this in Columbia County.” He went on to add that the store currently employs about 114 people, and is looking to bring a few more onto the team.
Though the company itself may be excited to open the new store, not everyone in the area feels the same way. Though she could not be reached for comment before press time, Virginia Martin, an outspoken opponent of the Widewaters development project previously told the Register-Star that she was extremely concerned about the effects the plaza would have on local stores and businesses.
“The Chamber of Commerce came out against tax breaks for Widewaters, and with good reason, because the Widewaters stores would have provided stiff competition for our local businesses, to say nothing of the costs those stores impose on our communities,” said Martin this summer. “A supersized Wal-Mart is competition enough, and by itself will be plenty costly to our area. I hope both Price Chopper and Shop-Rite survive.”
Residents like Martin are worried that the new Lowes could also negatively affect smaller hardware stores that do business in the area, but Herrington’s — who has been part of the Hudson community for decades — is taking a very positive view of the situation.
“In regards to the near opening of the Lowes in Greenport, Herrington’s feels competition is healthy and necessary for businesses to grow,” Hudson store Manager Evan Schieren told the Register-Star in a statement. “As a local business, serving the community for over 100 years, Herrington’s is able to respond to homeowners and contractors needs offering services that our competition does not.”
Schieren went on to say that he felt you can’t put a price tag on the great local service Herrington’s is able to provide.
Aside from the worries about local business, some residents are also concerned about the increase in truck traffic, which has been affecting residents as far away as Kinderhook and Valatie, since the beginning stages of construction.
“The traffic in the village [of Kinderhook] is getting worse,” said one community member at a recent meeting about the increase in truck traffic. “It’s having an economic impact ... people are leaving because of the trucks.”
The Lowes building itself — which contains 103,000 square feet of retail space — has been under construction for more than a year now, and was scheduled to open its doors shortly after Walmart. The initial opening though, was held up for about a month due to what the contractor and Lowes representatives refer to as routine building circumstances.
“With every location, all kinds of factors effect opening day,” said Lowes representative Maureen Rich, adding that even seemingly small things like the weather can push back the date slightly.
Though the soft-opening of Lowes will be this Friday, the official opening ceremonies will commence with the “board cutting” — Lowes’ own version of a ribbon cutting — at 10 a.m. Nov. 5.
This same day the company will also be sponsoring “gift card match day,” to benefit the Columbia County Habitat for Humanity. During this event, Lowes will donate an equal amount of money — up to $5,000 — to the non-profit organization for every gift card purchased.
“It’s a great way for customers to show their support for their local Habitat for Humanity,” said Rich.
The store will contain more than 32,000 items to help customers build and improve their homes, including a garden center.
With fiscal year 2008 sales of $48.2 billion, Lowes Companies Inc. serves approximately 14 million customers a week at more than 1,675 home improvement stores in the United States and Canada.
“We’re really excited,” said Littlejohn. “We walked into the store five weeks ago and it was an empty shell, and by Friday it will be a fully stocked store ready for opening.”
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