The Village Food Market’s renovations will see improvements beyond fixing the peeling floors, chipped paint and appliances in disrepair – expect a new layout, rear entrance and commissary kitchen.
The store was one of the 11 projects selected by the state for the village of Homer’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Renovations are expected to cost $347,500, with a state contribution of $139,000.
The 11 DRI projects will each be assigned a state agency – based on public, private and nonprofit status – to assist throughout the process, said Deputy Mayor Pat Clune. For the Village Food Market, the state assigned Empire State Development Corp.
“Each project is going to have a different timeline, depending on who they’re working with,” Clune said. “That’ll be something that we’ll be trying to let our residents know, just in case they have questions of, ‘Why is one moving faster than another one?’”
The state still has administrative work to do before those timelines can be made available, Clune said. Village Food Market owner Kevin Williams said he hopes the paperwork for his store will be done by fall, so work can proceed next year.
“We are leaving the traditional floor plan, grocery store concept for something newer and more adaptable to village markets,” Williams said, adding that the store’s proximity to residences – making it walkable – is driving certain changes. “What we’re trying to do is get into that groove and make sure that this store survives another 50 or 60 years.”
“One of the larger changes we’re making to adapt to a younger generation and afterwards, is to offer more full service-type things from our meat department, deli department – things of that nature,” said Williams, who also serves on the Homer town board. “We’re actually now, at this point, putting in a full commissary kitchen in the back room.”
The kitchen will have a glass separator, so patrons can watch while their food is prepared. Beyond increasing product capacity, the goal is to create a space where people can ask questions about food preparation or be shown directly how to cook ingredients.
“We want local folks coming in here and we want to be a part of helping them have great meals and great memories,” Williams said.
The store at 7 S. Main St., has been a staple in the community for more than a century. It’s always been a grocery store, though it’s had different ownership through the years, said village Historian Martin Sweeney.
“The front of the building, like many in Homer, has made vast improvements over the recent years and I’m delighted to see that charm kept,” Sweeney said. “When you walk inside, you realize the place needs to be updated, like the floors. I think Kevin has wonderful plans to modernize the indoors and bring it up to the 21st century.”
“We’ve got a remarkable historic district,” he added. “You don’t find many places that have the historical charm we have without having to have ordinances and commissions to enforce maintenance. … History is the gift that keeps on giving and I hope we can do that with our DRI money.”
“I anticipate development and final ideas and hammering it out through probably this fall,” Williams said. “My guess is at the start of the construction season next year, we’re going to hit it and hit it hard.”
