Dan's Papers - July 27, 2007 - CVS Store Warned Not To Come To Sag Harbor

When Gucci opened its doors in East Hampton last May, it was official. The low-key, seaside ambience of the East End was gone like Long Island Sound, the now-forsaken former independent record store on East Hampton's Main Street. But Gucci was merely the metaphorical ribbon-cutting ceremony for East Hampton's transformation from resort village to upper echelon mini-city. While, the land past the Lobster Inn has long been a getaway for Manhattan's most privileged (before Diddy and Martha Stewart, there was Truman Capote and the Bouviers), it is arguably the "getaway" part that has been changing over the past twenty or so years. Stores from The City (Tiffany, Gucci, Saks) and from the suburbs (King Kullen, The Gap, K-Mart) have been opening along allegedly quiet Main Streets all over the East End.

But two towns without "Hampton" in their name are not quite ready to throw in the Ralph Lauren towel -- Montauk and Sag Harbor. Despite being mere minutes away from East Hampton, Sag Harbor residents seem to feel markedly distant from their neighboring towns, or so their reaction to the proposed CVS being placed in their village seem to suggest. The CVS pharmacy is set to be the 17,000-square-foot replacement for the Water Street Shopping Complex, which is currently home to an independent liquor store, an independent computer store, a Chinese take-out restaurant and the 24/7 7-11 which has been in place since 1987. It is slated to open in October of 2009, after the lease for the shopping complex is up and no negotiations have been offered.

Gina Gardella, Sag Harbor resident and employee at The Ideal, a Sag Harbor stationary store, said "We don't want those big Madison Avenue stores here. It's not their place. They can go to East Hampton. I don't even think anyone around here would buy from them." She did not say this with disdain, but, rather, perplexity.

Inside the shops of Sag Harbor stores, almost all owners seemed to echo Ms. Gardella's sentiments. It's not just that they don't want CVS in Sag Harbor, it's that they don't even understand what it would be doing in their supposedly quiet village, as if those "big Madison Avenue stores" were really still on Madison Avenue and not a few minutes away down at the other end of Route 114. CVS? It doesn't belong here.

One such Sag Harbor resident is artist April Gornick. Gornick sat alongside more than 100 other angry Sag Harbor residents at a meeting last week at Temple Adas Israel, held by residents to discuss the coming CVS. When I mentioned that the CVS would not be the first step in the "commercialization," or, may I coin the term, the "Hamptonization," of Sag Harbor, she conceded, "I was sorry to see [independent men's clothing store] Latham House go [to Calypso]. And we certainly don't need another housewares store. But with The Golden Pear [which replaced the independent Harbor Deli two years ago], well that's a Hamptons chain -- sort of like BookHampton -- and it was replacing a deli with a deli. I wouldn't even necessarily object to a Barnes & Noble. But the CVS isn't just replacing another store of its kind."

Her voice trailed off, but it's no secret that CVS, a "big box" store, isn't just taking over the work of 7-11-- it's also a card store (like The Ideal), a general store (like Sag Harbor's "5 n Dime," the Variety Store, which declined to comment), and a pharmacy (like the old Sag Harbor pharmacy). It's all of those things, but possibly cheaper than the independent stores of their kind. "There's no question that it will take business from other Sag Harbor stores." Gornik said.

"It's a cascade effect and I think there will be fewer arguments that can be made against other large stores if there is already a CVS in town."

Rumors have spread that "other large stores" would include Dunkin Donuts and Ralph Lauren, which many residents are equally opposed to.

Perhaps the most threatened store in town is the Sag Harbor pharmacy, owned by Barry Marcus, the 4th owner in the pharmacy's 125 years of existence. Marcus was one of the first to know of the coming CVS, as one of the chain's developers came into the pharmacy several months ago to forebear the bad news. The developer happened to be a former employee of Marcus' from a pharmacy further up the island. Perhaps it was this bond that caused his bluntness. "He handed me a [CVS] card and said 'we're moving down the street. We'd like to buy you out.' I didn't know whether to slap him or shake his hand," Marcus said.

But no deals were made. "I told him, 'we'll be here after you move. We're not interested. We're staying.'"

Artists and residents are on board, shop-owners are confidently staying strong and a full-page "open letter" to the CVS developers in last week's Sag Harbor Express by "Duncan N. Darrow, Esq.," a Sag Harbor resident, states, "You have underestimated what this community is really made of. I am just one of many. . . who will defeat your plans."

But is "defeat" of the developers even possible if the deals have been made?

Gornik explained, "presently, there is a moratorium on [CVS'] development pending a review by the board of trustees and the zoning board. I've been led to believe that there's a reason for hope. The board of trustees' meeting on August 14th is going to be very important."

New laws and zoning codes could perhaps be put into place in Sag Harbor that could prevent the CVS pharmacy from opening. In Nantucket, for example, laws have been set so that no new stores can be larger than 5,000 square feet.

However, Gornik said "I've been told that CVS is ruthless and their promises in other towns haven't been kept, although that's just hearsay."

Who knew school supplies could get so ugly?

The Hamptons is filled with rich residents who don't believe that they are the "Hamptons type." Hamptons types continuously complain about the congestion caused by Hamptons types and the slow loss of charm that could be coming when such outsiders as real estate developers and big box store owners infiltrate their small towns. Not in my multi-million dollar backyard, uh-uh, no way! May we forget that Andy Warhol's beachside Montauk estate is now owned by the CEO of J.Crew? Or that the CEO of Starbucks (a chain quietly serving customers in Southampton, Bridgehampton and East Hampton, three of over 1,000 Starbucks coffee houses in the US) is a regular at Wei Fun? Is this a strange case of karma?

One Quogue resident says, "My childhood ended when Sam Goody came to Southampton. The changes out here have been made. Why not a CVS? They have everything. I love CVS, and it's cleaner than 7-11. You can sit on the floor and read magazines."

But Kathy Zappola of Strough Real Estate on Main Street in Sag Harbor said, "Even from a real estate perspective, I don't see who this would benefit. It would change the face of Sag Harbor -- it's the first thing you see when driving over the bridge -- and Sag Harbor's old-town feeling is unique, it's what people want out here. To be honest, I can't even believe this got approved. It goes against so much that we've been working for."

As a year-round resident and mother, Zappola says "one of the nice things about local stores like the Sag Harbor Pharmacy is that they know you and you can trust them and develop a relationship with them. If people need milk at midnight will they go to the CVS? Yeah, there's nowhere else to go. But I prefer local stores."

"This town is Americana. And to be honest, Sag Harbor and Montauk are the last strongholds. We don't want to see that go."

When I ask Marcus if he believes what he's told developers -- that even if CVS infiltrates, "we'll be here," he smiles and says, "oh yeah. We'll survive." And I believe it.