By Christine Graf
Stewart’s Shops has announced plans to spend $50 million to construct new stores and replace smaller, older stores with shops that include more space for prepared foods and coffee.
All new stores will have expanded parking lots and gasoline services, and some will include beer caves, the company said.
The new stores will be located in 11 counties including Albany, Saratoga, Oswego, Rensselaer, Oneida, Warren, Columbia, Essex, Clinton, Ulster, and Orange .
According to company spokesperson Erica Komoroske, the new locations will average 3,750 square feet in size and cost between $2.5 million and $3 million to construct. Fifteen new stores are slated for 2019, and stores in Clifton Park, Mechanicville, Oswego, Yorkville, and Brunswick have already been completed. The company hopes to finish work on the remaining 10 stores by the end of the year.
Stewart’s also has major remodels planned for several existing locations.
The company bids new projects to outside contractors, and its new stores are being built by numerous different constructions companies. Those companies include Hilltop Construction in Hudson Falls, Emco Construction in Guilderland and MLB in Malta.
The Stewart’s Shop being constructed on New Karner Road in Albany is the only new location that will have a car wash. The car wash will be leased to Albany-based Clean2o Touchfree Car Wash. Clean2o currently leases the car washes at the Stewart’s Shop and Mobil Station on Marion Avenue in Saratoga Springs and at the Stewart’s Shop in Cohoes.
They operate a total of six car washes throughout the Capital Region.
Although Stewart’s has no immediate plans to build car washes at any of their other locations, Komoroske said the company would consider making future investments in car washes “where it makes sense.”
Stewart’s employs more than 4,500 people at over 335 shops located throughout New York and southern Vermont. Additional employees will be hired to staff new stores as they open.
“For new shops, we usually hire 12-15 people. For replacement shops, we may make a few hires, but we bring over the staff from previous shop,” said Komoroske.
The company also announced closing of its store on Main Street in Hudson Falls.
“For Stewart’s Shops, the trending area of profitability has been in the food-to-go category. Unfortunately, this shop does not have the ability to accommodate the equipment or space needs to expand food-to-go offerings, thereby limiting profitability. The inability to expand along with rising costs and increased regulations have made this closure necessary,” a company statement said.
According to Stewart’s Shops President, Gary Dake, “Although this particular shop is not viable; we continue to invest in the area with substantial investments recently in our surrounding area shops in the greater Glens Falls region; we’ll continue to invest in our existing shops in 2020. We are happy to say that all of our partners have been offered positions in nearby shops.”
Stewart’s Shops thanked their Hudson Falls customers for their patronage and hopes they will continue to shop at the other shop locations including Burgoyne Avenue in Hudson Falls, Broadway in Fort Edward and Warren Street in Glens Falls.
To search for employment opportunities at Stewart’s Shops, visit www.stewartsshops.com
