By Jeanne Sager
MONTICELLO — January 9, 2004 – It’s all you could want and more.
If promises from Staples’ public relations staff ring true, the new superstore set to open around Memorial Day in Monticello will be one of the “latest and greatest” in the chain’s history.
The office giant is currently under construction in the Thompson Square Mall on Route 42, right next door to the Home Depot superstore that opened up shortly before Christmas.
According to Karen O’Neil, a Staples spokesperson, the company chose Monticello because of location.
“[It’s] because of the strength of the small business community in the region and our interest in making it easy for this community to access our unique services and product offerings,” O’Neil noted. “The closest Staples is now in Middletown.”
The new store will be 15,000 square feet dedicated to providing area customers with everything from fax machines to envelopes.
The “improvements” on the standard Staples store will include wider aisles, contemporary fixtures and lighting to create a “customer-friendly shopping atmosphere,” O’Neil noted.
There will be a Copy and Print Center as well as a Staples Ship Center for customers to send packages via UPS. Sullivan County’s small business owners will be offered the chance to avail themselves of the Business Rewards Card, which tracks Staples purchases and gives back bonus checks quarterly.
The company will also be hiring local staff to run the store, including 30 full- and part-time employees, from cashiers to managerial staff.
The Massachusetts-based company currently runs 1,500 stores, the most of any office supply company in the world.
Sales in 2002 topped $11.6 billion, and the company expects to prosper in Monticello.
Town of Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini is excited about the added amenities Staples will provide to the people of his town and the county.
“It’s another way to stop people from going out of the county to shop, to retain the sales tax dollars that would otherwise be paid to Orange County or Pennsylvania,” he said.
“And of course, it’s bringing jobs,” Cellini added, rounding out the opportunities national chains have brought to the Monticello area with first Wal-Mart moving in and more recently Home Depot setting up shop.
Next in line is a Ground Round restaurant set to begin construction sometime this year in the center of the Thompson Square Mall parking lot, Cellini noted.