Neighboring Businesses React to News of Sonic Opening

With Sonic’s East Meadow debut pending, businesses in its soon-to-be new location have a wide range of opinions on the potential arrival.

It has been confirmed that for the restaurant at the former Rita’s location on Hempstead Turnpike with the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals. It would be the first of its kind in Nassau County and the second island-wide.

Marcia Krinick, owner of , said that she thinks it may help give the shopping center a needed boost. She added that she is hoping that it will help her business.

“It will definitely bring more people into the area,” Krinick said, noting that she wasn’t sure if it would make people shop in the area. “To me, it can only help right now.”

 owner Solomon, who asked to not identify his last name, explained that he is “cautiously optimistic” about Sonic coming to the shopping center.

“With changes you have to think about how it is going to affect your business,” he said. “Short term wise, it is probably going to hurt me. But, I have seen Sonic before. If they make it look how it looks in the other states, I think it will be a positive point.”

In the short term, he is expecting a 20 to 30 percent drop in business since he is also a food establishment. He said that in the long term he hopes that “everything will even out” and it will bring in more traffic.

“It is a new food establishment,” Solomon said. “There is no way I am going to not take a hit.”

Solomon added that he hopes it will draw in a big retailer to the , which has been vacant for a few years. If Sonic is in the shopping center pulling in customers, retailers might see the increased traffic and exposure, he said.

Peter Bruce, general manager of , said that he would not know how Sonic’s arrival would affect their business until they open up shop. Sonic’s manager had come in to speak with him, Bruce added.

“He explained that he thinks it will help create more customers for us that may not have been here before,” he said.

Some major concerns that many current tenants in the shopping center are apprehensive about are parking and traffic.

Solomon said that he thinks traffic will “be a huge nightmare” and that it will create a large problem on Hempstead Turnpike.

“The parking lot right now already has some problems, especially with the flooding,” he said. “The parking is not going to pretty.”

Krinick said that she knows it will certainly bring in more traffic, but she doesn’t know exactly how much. She added that traffic at the Deer Park location slowed down after a while.

“If it takes up too much parking it could be a problem,” she said. “I am kind of divided about that.”

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