Friday, April 6, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 14
$1
Longtime Bethpage store to move operations
NCPD REOPENS STATION
BY GARY SIMEONE
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino (front row, second from left) recently joined with Nassau County Legislator Rose Marie Walker (front row, right), Legislator Arnold W. Drucker (front row, second from right), Hicksville Chamber of Commerce President Lionel Chitty (back row, left), North West Civic Association of Hicksville Member Joel Berse (back row, second from right), Broadway Mall General Manager Kenneth Hamilton (front row, center), 2nd Precinct Deputy Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Mark J. Vitelli (front row, left), and Police Officer Pop Unit Mark McCartin (back row, right) at the grand reopening of Nassau County Police Department 2nd Precinct Satellite in the Broadway Mall.
Zorn’s of Bethpage has been part of the Bethpage community for many decades, and now the iconic family store will undergo a major transformation and move their business to another building on the property. Located at 4321 Hempstead Turnpike, Zorn’s will open a brand new building to accommodate their long-standing customer base. Merrill Zorn, president and CEO of Zorn’s of Bethpage, said that the move would be a new chapter in the legacy of the store. “This is the beginning of the next chapter of our historic family’s legacy on Long Island,” said Zorn. “What is most important to me is that we’re keeping the entire Zorn’s of Bethpage family together. All of our employees will transition with us to the new operation.” The new building will be on the western side of the property and will be smaller in scale than the previous building. The new building will be approximately 8,000 square feet with most of the property being taken up by the kitchen area. The previous building was 25,000 square feet
including kitchen area, store layout and a basement warehouse. “It was time for a change, time f or something new,” said Zorn. “Of course, we will carry over our traditions to the new facility and the look and feel of our store will not change.” A spokesperson for Zorn’s said that by moving to a smaller scale operation, it will make for a more efficient way to do business. The construction process is currently ongoing on the property site but it will not effect store operations or business hours. The new store is slated to open in January of 2019, right after the Christmas holidays. In the meanwhile, Zorn’s is asking its customers to provide them with some of their best memories of the store through what they’re calling the Zorn’s of Bethpage History Project. People can participate by sending photos, videos or written letters about their past experiences through email at memories@zornsofbethpage.com. people can also post on social media using the hashtag Zornsofbethpagehistory.
Will local toy store benefit from Toys R Us closing?
BY GARY SIMEONE MJ Beanz in Plainview has been a staple in the community for years, fulfilling the toy buying needs of children and adults alike. Now with the recent closing of the major toy store chain Toys R Us, mom and pop shops like MJ Beanz could stand to benefit from an increased customer base. Steven Goldfarb, owner of MJ Beanz, said he doesn’t feel that Toys R Us closing its doors would impact customer count
at his location, but that he wouldn’t mind the extra business. “We are a little different than the Toys R Us model in that we’re a high service neighborhood store, but we would definitely welcome whatever comes to us,” said Goldfarb. Goldfarb believes that most Toys R Us customers will probably end up going to places like Walmart, Target or going to online shopping sites after the store chain closes at the end of April. “We don’t stock techy toys or a lot
of the stuff that could be found at Toys R Us. We specialize in things of the traditional variety like children’s coloring books, dolls, stuffed animals,puzzles, and arts and crafts kits.” Goldfarb is a toy connoisseur of sorts, having been in the toy business for over two decades. Before he owned MJ Beanz, he was working in a neighborhood toy store in Manhattan called HomBom Toys. That classic neighborhood toy store was similar to MJ Beanz, selling everything from
arts and crafts, educational toys to science kits. “The difference between us and a store like Toys R Us is that we offer more of a personal touch to our customers. We offer free local delivery and free gift wrapping year round.” He said that he appreciates that hometown feel of owning a neighborhood store, and that much of his business comes from word if mouth.
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