Close fo 100 residents of the town of Woodstock, New York are giving the CVS drug store chain a major headache. On Saturday, a grassroots group called Save Our Supermarket (SOS) picketed at the site of the old Grand Union grocery store, on Route 212, a site that was bought up by CVS when Grand Union departed. The loss of Grand Union left Woodstock residents without a grocery store. “We hope to drive (CVS) out by boycotting, and then get a small supermarket in,” SOS member Toby Heilbrunn told the Freeman newspaper. Heilbrunn is a former member of the Woodstock Town Board. The Woodstock problem is just one in a series of land use issues created when Grand Union went into bankruptcy, leaving behind a number of choice locations that other companies seized upon. But no one wanted the 16,000 s.f. Woodstock location — except CVS.Woodstock Town Board members told the media that they tried to convince CVS not to open in this location, that a grocery store replacement was needed. The town even sent letters to other grocery store chains, but only a handful of responses were received. The town also rejected taking the property by eminent domain. “We plan to picket every day, seven days a week, until they (CVS) leave,” another SOS member told the Times-Herald newspaper. A CVS spokesman told the paper:”We look forward to being part of the community.” But a similar drugstore in New York City was forced to close when local residents picketed the store daily. Citizens said the Woodstock police were videotaping the entire event, and their high profile at the demonstration was considered excessive. SOS plans to stay on the picket lines until CVS folds its tent. In a small town like Woodstock, the public pressure could pay off sooner, rather than later.
For more on the CVS track record in small towns, search this database by “CVS”. For local contacts with SOS, email [email protected]
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