Archive: News

When the Egans' Lansing Shurfine closed in 1995 the Town of Lansing lost a resource that has been sorely missed, its own supermarket.  Since then townspeople have yearned for a new market closer to home.  Sixteen years later the wait will be over when Lansing Market opens its doors next week.

Around 9am Wednesday the new grocery store at Triphammer and Town Barn Roads will officially open with a ribbon cutting ceremony, after which its doors will be open for business.  This week employees have been working to clean new shelves and fixtures, train on new equipment, and begin the daunting task of stocking the shelves -- all of them.  

Store manager Don Taylert said Wednesday that the shelves were 90% full, and that the frozen food cases were also 90% full.  The dairy department should be close to 90% full by the time you read this.  Taylert says the 10% that isn't stocked yet is reserved for local products.

"That was our plan, to get our stuff in and save space for Julie Crowly's Ithaca Coffee, Edward's Eggs, etcetera," he says.  "Perishables will be stocked Monday and Tuesday.  The meat will be cut Tuesday night for the Wednesday opening.  Most of the produce will probably be stocked Tuesday night.  The most perishable items will be put on the shelves Tuesday night."

The ribbon cutting marks a 'soft opening' for the store.  An official 'grand opening' is planned for October.  That will give the staff a month to get to know the store, work out the kinks, and train on the job.  While many employees have been working a week ahead to get the store stocked, some won't come until needed Tuesday night to stock perishable items like produce and meat.

Training on the new equipment and just getting to know each other will be the task for the first month.  Hot foods, baked goods, and sandwiches will be available on opening day, but these will be prepared meals that the store staff presents for sale.  Over the next month baked goods and hot foods made in the store will be phased in so that by the grand opening the in-house chef and bakers will be producing those products.

Employees have been busy stocking shelves this week. Store manager Don Taylert says he wants as much done this week as possible to make next week's opening go smoothly. 

"Some of them have a little bit of experience, but they don't know Lansing Market," Taylert said Wednesday morning.  "So it's a learning process.  They're intelligent and fast learners.  I'm really proud of what they've accomplished already, and this is only their second day.  It's like they've worked here for a long time, so that helps a lot."

Taylert says he is excited about the opening of the store, which has 55 employees including Taylert.  He has been involved in the project for over a year.  Taylert is one of a small group of local investors headed by Andy Sciarabba.  When looking for a manager Sciarabba insisted that being an investor was part of the job description.  Taylert is well suited for the job.

He owned Taylert's IGA in Danby from 1975 to 1980.  At the time Tops came to Ithaca, which hurt smaller independent stores, and Taylert sold his store and went to work for Tops.  He managed the meat department at Tops for 16 years, and then for ten years at Price Chopper.  Being an investor brings him back to the ownership side of the business, which he says is great motivation to make the store work.

"You learn the value of a dollar, because it's yours," he says.  "Being an investor here I can follow in those footsteps, and know that everything on those shelves is cash."

Last October Sciarabba said he wanted to open the store in May.  But with a harsh winter that proved to be too aggressive a schedule.  Last week there were signs that the opening is imminent -- the parking lot was completed, carts appeared outside, and the signs were erected and lit at night.

The store has generated a lot of buzz in Lansing since word got around last year that it would be built.  Three questions have risen to the top: will it be able to compete with giant markets like Wegmans and Tops, will it support local producers, and will it have a CFCU ATM?

The store is part of Associated Wholesalers, Inc. (AWI) a cooperative that of many stores that enables it to offer its members a wide range of products products at competitive prices.  Taylert says Lansing Market is one of the first two AWI stores in New York State.  He says that some local spot price checks have shown him that some products will be a little more than at Tops or Wegmans, and some will be a little less.

"Our weekly ads and our shelf prices will be very competitive," he says.  "We're within five or ten cents either way.  We're right in the ball park.  We won't be high priced.  We will be very competitive."

All the investors are Lansing people or families of Lansing people.  Taylert intends the store to be uniquely embedded in the Lansing community, and is all about supporting and doing business with local growers and other businesses.  Local contractor Doug Boles has been the force behind the construction, and Chip Wood will be supplying uniforms for the store.  Taylert is instituting a hand-on approach so customers are encouraged to talk directly to him and his department managers about what they want the store to carry.

He says the store will support Lansing school teams, groups, and events as best it can.  Already the Lansing cheerleaders have a fundraising date at the store.  They will have a table set up out front on September 17th to sell candy bars to raise money to fund their team, which is no longer funded by the school district in the wake of major cuts there.

"We'll take out ads in the soccer magazine to support soccer," Taylert says.  "We're going to support as much as we can in the schools in Lansing and even in the surrounding areas."

Local products will be for sale in the store as well.  Lansing Market will carry Ithaca Coffee, Ithaca Ice, and Edward's Eggs from day one.  Taylert says local producers who want the store to carry their produce should contact him or Produce Manager Allan Bomzer, who has also been very receptive to carrying local goods.

"He's found that many of the local products are very competitive in price," Taylert says.

Store Manager Don Taylert with Scan Coordinator Shannon Canino

As for the ATM, there will be one, but it won't be from CFCU.  When the Pit Stop closed last year the credit union's ATM lost its home of many years.  On learning that Lansing Market would be opening Sciarabba and Taylert received many requests to relocate the machine there.  With limited retail space, the store only has room and wiring for one ATM.  That will be a Chemung Canal Bank machine.

"We are going with Chemung Canal Bank because they are the ones who are loaning us the money to build Lansing Market," Taylert explains.  "At this point we can't get the CFCU machine in here.  It's just not feasible.  I know it's a big concern of the community, and we tried.  Andy Sciarabba did the best he could, and it didn't work out."

This first week that will mean very little sleep for Taylert.  He'll be at the store all night Tuesday, and all day Wednesday, and likely all Wednesday night as well.

"I probably won't sleep a lot for about a week," he says.  "I've got to be here just for training purposes, and for unknowns.  Speaking of unknowns, we haven't closed this store yet.  Not with cash.  Just turning the lights off and locking the doors is simple, but to sach out the registeres and put them on UA every day is a learning process.  We have to train whoever's here to open and close the store."

Store hours will be 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

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