Allan Appel Photo
How could it be a “groundbreaking” — if the guys from R & S Construction were already putting on a new roof?
The answer to the mystery at 454 Whalley Ave. at Ella Grasso Boulevard came Tuesday as community activists gathered to celebrate a soon-to-open paint store — which originally, to their dismay, was going to be a laundromat.
The activists called the event to answer neighbors’ curious questions: The new business being tucked into the already existing brick building between Walgreen’s and Dunkin’ Donuts will indeed be a Sherwin-Williams paint store.
Declaring complete victory over the unwanted and allegedly crime-inducing laundromat, Edgewood neighborhood organizer Eli Greer and other Whalley Avenue activists organized the event to announce that the store will open Feb. 1.
Greer (left) congratulated store manager Mike Monahan at the “groundbreaking ceremony.”
It will be the 41st store of the Cleveland-headquartered national chain, and Sherwin-Williams’ first in New Haven proper . There are outlets in Hamden and Branford.
The Dunkin’ Donuts next door on Whalley is a place where contractors can grab a coffee while they wait for their paint to be mixed, said Matt Polmatier, the Sherwin-Williams representative at the event.
Polmatier (left) said his company likes not only being between two established chain stores, but also the high traffic flow They also figured Yale and other entities undergoing major construction drives in New Haven need a lot of paint. So was the draw of Yale’s regular building program and the new construction throughout New Haven; new walls always need paint.
Whalley and the Boulevard is the second or third busiest intersection in the city, with 30,000 cars passing daily, Greer said. He called this confluence it’s an important symbol.”
“Running in to do an hour’s laundry” while keeping your car running is using a community, Greer said. A paint store will bring people together and build community, he added.
Greer said that two years ago the prospect of Precision Wash-n-Dry, a local chain, taking the spot between Walgreen’s and Dunkin’ Donuts had been a foregone conclusion. The neighborhood lobbied the Board of Zoning Appeals until the laundry pulled out. Click here for that story.
The new store will be the only paint and wallpaper purveyor on the west side between Woodbridge and Fair Haven.
It will have four to five employees and be open contractors’ hours: Monday through Friday from 7 to 7; Saturday from 8 to 5; Sunday 10 to 5.
Polmatier said the company makes every effort to hire local people, including for management training programs.
What else would Greer like to see along Whalley? A shoe store would be nice, he said, or a clothing store. Anything but another gas station, drive-through eatery, or nail salon, he said. Unlike a paint store, which serves as a magnet for professional networking as well, such establishments don’t bring in other shoppers, he said.
As the roofing and hammering filled the air Tuesday, all the post-groundbreaking work was being carried out under the general contractorship of Red Rooster Construction and its owner Jeremy Berkowitz; his other claim to fame is as the father of the founder of SeeClickFix, Ben Berkowitz.
Other community groups which had mobilized for the paint store and now hailed its imminent arrival included the Whalley Avenue Special Services District (WASSD) and the Whalley-Edgewood- Beaver (WEB) Hills Community Management Team, whose members Nan Bartow (center in photo above) and Bob Caplan (right) also spoke.