Chain Stores: Suburban Scourge or Trusted Brands?

The Town of East Hampton is revisiting legislation proposed in March to restrict “formula,” multiple or chain stores such as Whole Foods, Starbucks, 7-11 or CVS, in the Village of East Hampton and its surrounding hamlets, Montauk, Amagansett, Wainscott and Springs.

At a public hearing last week, supporters of the ban, primarily homeowners, faced off against opponents, primarily business owners.

According to Newsday, those in favor of banning chain stores from the streets of East Hampton fear that their incursion will further erode the unique character of the community. Recent years have seen many locally-owned businesses forced out by high rents and replaced by businesses with nationally-branded identities.

Opponents of the pending restrictions targeting nationally branded retail establishments claim further rules and regulations will hinder commerce and say the community overwhelmingly supports and patronizes national brand stores. An informal survey of the situation, on Monday morning by a Patch reporter, found existing village retail establishments doing a thriving business: Starbucks had a line snaking out the door and the CVS parking lot was bumper-to-bumper by 10 a.m.

In the Newsday article, Margaret Turner, the executive director of the East Hampton Business Alliance, is quoted as saying the popularity of local chain supermarkets and pharmacies show the stores are needed.

The proposed ban, as reported in an article in 27East, has been revised since its initial introduction last spring. Going forward, proposed legislation would require chain stores to submit applications and then go through site plan approval with the Planning Board before receiving special permits for building or renovating a preexisting building.

The restrictions would govern how the chain establishments look in an effort to make them conform to the architectural and historical aesthetic of the existing buildings. The aim is for the new businesses to accommodate the regional vernacular of the community instead of imprinting nationally recognized chain store brands across the facades of the existing 19th and early 20th century buildings that are home to the majority of East Hampton’s retail businesses.