J&R Discount store to close in Massapequa Park, residents up-in-arms

Business J&R Discount store to close in Massapequa Park, residents up-in-arms By Vivian Rose … Comments Posted on November 10, 2026 Massapequa Park Mayor Daniel Pearl and Village Attorney Kevin Walsh discuss the closure of J&R Discount. Vivian Rose Discount store J&R is set to close in Massapequa Park on Jan. 31 after more than 50 years in business. One local resident said the community may boycott the store’s replacement. “I feel very sorry for anyone who thinks that they’re going to come into this community and have a successful business,” Jane Ann Englese said during the village’s Nov. 9 board meeting. “I think the town may just boycott anything new. I hope they don’t soon forget.” According to Mayor Daniel Pearl, the village has limited information about the transaction and said they do not know who it is being sold to. He said the board has reached out to the “current or previous” owner but have not heard a response or a proposal for a special use permit. Pearl said that while the board is also upset about the closure of the store, it cannot become involved in private transactions between the property owner and the new tenant. The Reading Institute with Founder Dr. Katie Pace Miles Schneps Connects https://podcasts.schnepsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Dr.Miles_SchnepsConnects.mp3 Subscribe: RSS iTunes Spotify Stitcher Amazon Google Play “There are certain things that we won’t allow to come in here,” Pearl said. “We passed a law that there can never be a marijuana dispensary here, not on Main Street anywhere. But basically, it has the right use for a retail spot.” Village Attorney Kevin Walsh said the village has a general business code provision that allows for many business uses in the downtown area. He said there are certain uses that would allow the board to step in and question the business based on its impact. But he said, “It’s whatever an applicant, a buyer and a seller want to do.” Pearl said the discount store is connected to two other parcels, a liquor store and a Coldwell Banker, both of which have renewed their leases, he said, while J&R has not. He surmised that as the discount store comes out of a long-term lease, the amount of rent may have increased to become unsustainable for J&R. Maryann Kildare, a resident of the village for nearly 38 years, said she hopes the village can help keep the store open. “We have 100 restaurants here, I’m being facetious, of course, but we have more than enough restaurants. We have enough nail salons. We have enough insurance companies. We have enough liquor stores and barbershops. We have one J&R,” she said. During the meeting, the board also tabled a request to extend a storage container permit for Joy Morsi, who lives on Third Ave. The request was made to extend the permit for a period of three months. Englese, who lives on Monroe St., urged the board to deny the request for the “oversized metal storage container.” She said the storage container sits in the driveway and frequently pushes cars to park on the street on Third Ave., which Englese called a “narrow [street] to begin with,” making it a single-lane road at times. The village’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 23. For more business coverage, click here. About the Author All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines . Schneps Media does not endorse the views shared by readers in our comment sections.