{ title: 'The Freeport Baldwin Leader. (Freeport, N.Y.) 1987-current, July 27, 1989, Page 10, Image 10', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071065/1989-07-27/ed-1/seq-10/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071065/1989-07-27/ed-1/seq-10.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071065/1989-07-27/ed-1/seq-10/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn95071065/1989-07-27/ed-1/seq-10/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Freeport Memorial Library
' O ' oo O ' r«* >. 3 I I South Main Street's stormy history on the upswing Irving's Metis* Shop h&s been open (or busincu on South Main Street in Freeport $in« 1928, Woolworth'S and Barasch^ for cN^n longer than that. Genera* (ions of store owners and shoppers hat'c made purchases on this av'enue, the oldest shop ping area in the Village. Its his tory has not been without con troversy, however, especially strtec it was transformed into Freeport Mall in 1978. According to Larry Grcbinar, one of the directors of the Retail D ivision of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, the sboppingarea was converted into an outdoor mail by the federal goremment as pan of a program involving similar updates of old retail areas all over the country. PfobJems for the center began before its \grand opening.” though, with some stores going bankrupt due to construction delays. With construction on the shopping area takiivg twice as longas planned, (he loss of mail ers snowballed. Mr. Grebinar said, becoming one of the causes of a lack of potential customers. Rumors of high crime rates near the mall also led to low income mar^ns for Fretpon Mall shop owners. - • “The rumors were unsubsian- liated,\ Mr. Grebinar asserted. ** We [store owners] were optimis tic for the first five years after the ntall opened. Shop owners adier* liscd more and more to bring cus tomers in.“ He later added that this strong push for publicity was largely in v-ain. The South Main Street shop ping area had been open to car traffic for as long as residents could remember. With its partial reconstruction by the United States Govemmenl. however, came a giant walking area between the stores and complete vehicle inaccessabiUty. The area was from that point on a malL and. according to retailers, busi ness became even worse than it had been in the past. Following their five years of optimism after this change, a group of Freeport Mall store ow ners banded togetherand peti tioned thcft-Freeport Mayor Wil liam White, in writing and ver bally, to turn the now-enclosed mall back into an open street “to save the downtown arta.” These attempts went appar ently unl^eded by officials, how ever. according to Mr. Grebinar. because **the admiimtratioo that built the mall wouldn^ admit that it didnl work. He[MayorWhite] wouldn't change what he thought didn't need changing.\ he continued. Things started looking-up for the mall and its occupants in 1986. Enter present Mayor Dorothy Storm, who approved the conversion of the Freeport Mall back into a-strect. “U is a credit to her for allow ing it to happen,** Mr. Grebinar, whose father w-ai Chairman of the Retail Division of the Chamber, said. “Car traffic is good now and South Mam Straat In Fraaport, circa 1920 . foot traffic has increased greatly.\ he added. “As people discover us they will come bacL Tramformation will take time, though. It took time to go down, it's going to take time to come back up.“ Most of the mall shop owners expressed faith that business in the a r « will get better as time goes oh. New stores, like Braith- waites. ha\e been filling vacan have cies and other stores expanded within the mall. dollar Days One of the biggest attraeiions at the mall is “Dollar Days.” This annual sale has been a Freeport favorite for 60 years running, although it has changed consid erably since its inception. “Dollar Days” began as an end-of-thc-summer clearance sale run by many of the area stores, thus it was held at the end . of Augtut. It now r e f i t s large savings on summer merchandise at many of the same mall stores, only the s^Ie is now during the summer instead of after it. The sale begins on July 31 and ends on August 5. Twenty-six stores will be participating with discounts and sales on many summer items. SALE STARTS JDLY^ 29 - ENDS AUGUST 5 Family Thrift Store 59 SO. MAm ST., FREEPORT • 379-1614 Store Hours: M oil - Thurs. 9:30 - 5 S a t. 9:30 - 6:30 Sun. 9*5 SALES GALORE ..... SAVINGS FOR EVERYBODY ... All Clothing 5 0 9 ^ O F F TicktlPnce All Upholstered & Wooden Furniture 25% OFF All Bric-a-Brac 25% OFF BRING THE FAMILY ... TELL YOUR FRIENDS (ProudCy Introduce The New' Organic Method of Lightening Permanently * ' SB^^ghtenine hair O using Non-Oscldizing Pigment. Introductory Offer Month of August Only ( f t 85 So. Main Street Freeport Open 6 days • t:30 am to S pm FReeporl 8-7577 FReeport 8-9356 • • GEORGE'S MENS 8e BOYS CLOTHING Everything Must 6o - Summer StockI 30“40% OFF m & Uatman 7-ShIrts Geoiglo Bnitin] Shoes Shirt Sets at i)' Spe^al Prices Dress Slacks Color Reg. $11.99 $6.99 Reg. $30.00 $19.99 $24.99 t o $37.99 Now on Sal* Now on Sate Now on Sate Reg. $32.99 $19.99 And Many Morel 378-8550