The days are numbered for 7-Eleven in Sag Harbor.
The popular all-day, everyday convenience store is set to close on Friday, April 30. On Tuesday afternoon, with less than 11 full days left in business, a store manager confirmed the impending closure but said company policy prohibited her from commenting on the matter.
The move stems from a major Sag Harbor real estate shake-up involving Friends of Bay Street, the organization formed to help Bay Street Theater acquire, develop, and finance its new facility. The Friends group recently announced it had acquired the Water Street Shops, where 7-Eleven has been operating for more than three decades. Adam Potter, the retired entrepreneur who founded Friends of Bay Street, also bought the Dodds and Eder building on Bridge Street and has pitched a new convenience store there.
The 7-Eleven store and its neighboring businesses have apparently been on month-to-month leases since February. Corporate representatives of 7-Eleven could not be reached for comment this week. Reached by email on Tuesday, Mr. Potter said only that "we are holding a town hall meeting with Q. and A. that will also address the convenience store" on May 1 at 4 p.m.
Customers and locals, however, had plenty to say this week about the loss of the only spot in town where one can grab lunch on a budget of $5 or less.
"I like this 7-Eleven. I come here at 3 a.m. when I'm plowing snow, and they're open," said Scott Fordham of Noyac, who had just bought a Monster energy drink and a snack.
The store's employees were known to lend a hand in times of need, for instance providing coffee for Sag Harbor Fire Department personnel on the day of the Sag Harbor Cinema fire in 2016.
"When I first came to town, there were people lining up to protest it," Mr. Fordham said. "Now, everyone's protesting to save it."
Manuel Tacuri, who works in the area, usually goes to the 7-Eleven in the morning. "I will miss it," he said. "I come for a snack or to the Chinese food place. It's cheaper."
As people dashed in and out of the store on Tuesday — a mother and child with a jug of milk, guys wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the logos of local landscaping companies, acquaintances stopping to chat with one another in the parking lot — Ralph Salamone, a 30-year resident of Bay Point, decried the coming loss of a critical business.
"It's a conglomerate of bastards trying to run out all of these businesses," he said, coffee cup in hand. "They're getting everyone to sell out. Everybody goes to 7-Eleven. This is a mainstay, and people work here. Tragic."
In June of 2013, the store was raided by federal authorities as part of a massive investigation into identity theft, wire fraud, and trafficking in illegal immigration. The Sag Harbor 7-Eleven was one of 14 franchises seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security and turned over to the corporate 7-Eleven operation.
"The 7-Eleven franchises seized today will be better known for their big fraud than their Big Gulp," the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in charge of the investigation said at the time.
After Friday, April 30, those seeking a midnight snack will have to trek a little farther down Route 114 to the Gulf gas station, formerly known as Harbor Heights, which is open late, or to the 7-Eleven location in Southampton. The Montauk location, which in 2014 was the top grossing of some 9,000 franchises in the country, is also an option.
