J&R Discount to close in Massapequa Park after building sale

J&R Discount, a neighborhood five-and-dime store in Massapequa Park that neighbors said could always be counted on for a last-minute purchase, will close at the end of January, its owner said on Wednesday.

Joe Fiorello, the store’s 91-year-old owner, and his daughter Karen Joscher said the building, at 1014 Park Blvd. had been sold and the store wasn’t offered a new lease.

Customers shopping in the store on Wednesday said they were deeply upset to lose the community staple, which opened in 1994. 

"It’s hard, especially for the older people that are used to depending on us," Joscher said. "It’s going to be a little difficult for them because they’re so used to us."

The retailing business has become more challenging because of tariffs on some store items imported from Canada as well as competition from e-commerce sites, said Fiorello. But he said he likely would have renewed the store’s lease, depending on the asking rent.

"It’s been tough because of the tariffs, Amazon, the rents are going up, and everything combined," he said.

Newsday could not immediately identify the building’s new owner.

J&R Discount operates another store on Newbridge Road in Levittown and, as of now, plans to keep operating in that location, Joscher said.

'Like a gold mine'

Nancy Van Dyke, of Massapequa Park, said she’d been shopping at the store for decades for all kinds of odds and ends, including toys and crayons for her nieces.

"This has been like a gold mine," she said. "Anything I needed, you could come in here and find it — tape, shower curtain liners, little kids’ toys."

Connie DiBiase gasped on Wednesday when she heard the news while shopping in the store with her husband, Gary.

There are fewer in-person places to shop in the area following the loss of retailers at Sunrise Mall, said Gary DiBiase. He likes supporting a variety store like J&R Discount that adds to the small town, Main Street feel of Massapequa Park

"Although we buy a lot from Amazon, it’s nice to come in to actually see, touch and feel the item rather than just order online," he said.

Amazon has proposed opening a 150,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on a portion of the now-vacant Sunrise Mall site in Massapequa, Newsday has reported. The plan is pending review by the Town of Oyster Bay. 

At J& R, Jean Daniels, of Massapequa Park, said she’d been able to find everything from yard decorations to small gifts in the decades she’d spent shopping at the store. She said she wouldn't shop at whatever business takes J&R’s place.

"If you don’t have it, and needed it at the last minute, this was the place to go," Daniels said. "I hope the new owner of the building reconsiders giving them a lease."

In a letter to customers, store manager Anthony Ferrara thanked the store's shoppers and encouraged them to visit the Levittown location.

"We'd like to thank the Massapequa Park community who welcomed us in 1994 and faithfully supported us through all these years," Ferrara wrote in a letter shared with Newsday that will be posted at the store. "We'd also like to thank all our employees past and present including the many local kids who called this place their first job."

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.