By Dave Matlow
Jay Kowalsky: “Shaw’s is rundown.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Frustration with the repeated failure by supermarket tenant Shaw’s to upgrade its Westport store led to a decision not to renew its lease and negotiate with a new tenant,The Fresh Market, a specialty grocer, according to the owners of the Post Road East shopping plaza.
Jay Kowalsky, president and treasurer of Kowalsky Real Estate owned by the longtime Westport Kowalsky family, said he had been talking with Shaw’s and prior owner Grand Union for 10 years about updating and modernizing the store.
“Shaw’s is rundown,” he said. “The current and prior owners have been talking about remodeling for around 10 years and nothing is happening.”
Kowalsky said he had been in talks with The Fresh Market, an 84-store chain based in Greensboro, N.C., for about three months.
“They are more modern in their presentation and marketing and more competitive with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods,” he said. Both stores already have a Westport presence.
Kowalsky, 58 and a 1969 Staples High School graduate, said his family built the shopping center and took ownership about 40 years ago. “Not much has changed there (at Shaw’s) he said. “Even many of the same employees when it was Grand Union are still there.”
He said when negotiations are concluded, renovations to the store will take about a year and there are plans to update the entire shopping center.
“The other tenants know about the upgrade and are in favor of it,” Kowalksky said. “The tenants will be hurt by less traffic in the absence of the anchor tenant, but they know that but are in favor of looking at the long term.”
He added, “Everything hurts everything in today’s economy, and they know this will hurt them, too.” Kowalsky said that he will “try to hold down the rents” of the other tenants, most of whom are “mom and pop” stores. 
Shaw’s will close on Jan. 10 with the new tenant, The Fresh Market, expected to take over in about a year. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Kowalksky said he understands The Fresh Market, which has stores mainly in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, plans to add three to five stores in the Northeast. Already announced is a store in the Boston suburb of Hingham, Mass.
Kowalsky said the addition of The Fresh Market “will be good for the center and for the town. We are very excited by our new tenant.”
Shaw’s confirmed on Monday that it will vacate the shopping center on Jan. 10. (See WestportNow Nov. 10, 2008)
Judy Chond, a Shaw’s spokeswoman, said about 90 employees will be affected.
“We worked diligently with the property owner but could not come to a mutually acceptable agreement,” she said.
Kowalsky said he had no comment on the Shaw’s statement.
Good move, Jay.
Now I understand what happened and why. Shaw’s physical plant certainly does need upgrading. However, what will happen to the lovely people who work there? I hope they will all be retained.
Nina Streitfeld