After several long-term tenants have moved out, a Commack shopping center is filling some large vacancies with a Planet Fitness, a Lidl supermarket and three restaurants.
Some of these former tenants’ parent companies cited COVID-19 as the main reason for their exit. Among them was one of Mayfair’s two anchors – a 31,000-square-foot Stein Mart department store that closed last year due to a pandemic-induced bankruptcy.
“We have seen a lot of our properties that are great, well-located, long-term high-traffic malls,” said Matthew K. Harding, CEO of Levin Management Corp., Plainfield, New Jersey, a company who manages and monitors the rental for the Mayfair Shopping Center.
The fitness studio chain Planet Fitness and the German discounter Lidl, which bought all 24 Best Market stores on Long Island in 2019, will open new locations in the shopping center by the beginning of next year, company representatives said.
In addition, according to Levin, three restaurants are planning openings this year on a total of 13,600 square meters:
• Meet Izakaya Ramen Bar will open by the end of the year on the premises vacated by Famous Toastery in Fall 2019. The new casual restaurant serves Japanese-style tapas, skewers and ramen.
• Bagel Toastery will open in late September on the premises that Mayfair Bagel left in November 2018. The new eatery will be opened by the partners / owners of the Bagel Shop / Deli Bagelicious Café in Port Jefferson Station.
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• JBBQ & Shabu Shabu will open at the end of the year on the premises of the former Good Taste Buffet, which was vacated in August 2018. The new pan-Asian restaurant will come from the owners of the Japanese restaurant chain Kashi, whose five locations include four on Long Island.
Built around 1960, the 221,766 square meter mall is located on 10-2020 Jericho Turnpike in Commack. It’s now 70% rented, Harding said.
The Mayfair and other malls’ tenant mix is evolving to include more dining and socializing, as well as fewer clothing stores, which are more prone to online retail competition, he said.
“Yes, absolutely more people are buying clothes online and there are fewer clothing retailers in malls … and other retail stores. But it’s not over for good, ”he said.
Planet Fitness will open 19,000 square feet in the Mayfair Shopping Center by the end of this year, said Becky Zirlen, spokeswoman for the Hampton, New Hampshire-based gym chain.
“The 19,000-square-foot facility features state-of-the-art cardio and weight equipment, free exercise, and a Black Card Spa that includes HydroMassage beds, massage chairs, and tanning beds / benches for PF Black Card members,” she said.
Planet Fitness, which has 19 open gyms on Long Island, will move into space in the Mayfair Shopping Center, which was formerly used by clothing chains Gap, New York & Co. and Justice.
New York & Co.’s parent companies, Justice and Stein Mart, all cited the pandemic as the primary reason they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last summer and then shut down all of their stores.
Lidl closed the 60,300 square meter Best Market in the Mayfair Shopping Center in February for renovation work and the conversion to the name Lidl, but later decided to open the new Lidl in a smaller space, the former location of Stein Mart.
“We were able to work with the landlord of the mall and fit in better at the same location,” said Lidl spokesman Will Harwood.
The former Best Market space remains unlet, but could be split between two tenants, said Harding.
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She worked for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Observer Dispatch in Utica, NY
