UPDATE: Best Yet Market Coming to Swan Commons

is set to come to the Patchogue area, this time in the Swan Nursery Commons shopping center in East Patchogue.

will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the shopping center to announce the opening of a Best Yet Market.

The Commons shopping center at one time housed a Waldbaum's. But according to founder Tom Berger, the opening of another led to the shutdown of the Commons location.

The supermarket’s parent company, A&P, had signed a 10-year lease with Serota Properties that prevented other food stores from inhabiting the space that previously housed the Waldbaum's.

Murray said he was pushing to end the contract after finding a loophole.

“If the store was empty for more than a year, the landlord can hop out of the lease and rent to another store owner, so we were pushing for that,” he said.

Residents were displeased about A&P’s actions, but Murray and Berger said they are looking forward to restoring the area.

“It was a bit of a controversy, and I wasn’t pleased with the A&P Corporation, they didn’t do the right thing for the community,” Murray said. “I think the company felt there were too many of their own stores competing against themselves, and they had every intention of keeping the story empty.”

Berger said that a community effort has been ongoing to bring a new grocery store to the location.

“We organized a petition drive and got about 2,300 signatures to bring a new supermarket to the area,” Berger said. “The grocery business is extremely cutthroat and non-cooperative, even with the community. This has been ongoing thing for almost four years.”

“At Focus, we’re ecstatic over it- this is something that will bring people here,” Berger said. “We’re trying to promote our economy so people will buy and sell in our area- that’s what makes a good economy.”

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Updated at 11/1/11 11:53 p.m.