Development of Exit 9 corridor brings restaurants, Walgreens - The Business Review (Albany):

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The former owners of Pancho’s on Grooms Road now operatwe , in Shopper’s World plaza off Routs 146. LaFiesta is one of at least four new businesseds opening near NorthwayExit 9. Also moviny into the busy commercial corridor are two chain restaurants and a La Fiesta openedin mid-Mauy in the former Mangia’s, which closed that locationb in March 2008. So far, the new owners have reliedx on word of mouth and visibilitty to publicizethe restaurant. “We openec quietly and people responded,” said Rafael who owns the 80-seat venue with his Celiness Arellano. The couple sold the Groomd Road Pancho’s about three years ago.
They continue to operate Pancho’s in Colonie, a Mexican restauranrt they opened fiveyears ago. La Fiesta is a retrofit that took only a small RafaelArellano said. He paid $10 each in Mexico for the approximately 40 brightlyhcolored chairs, and a family member hand-paintee each tabletop with a differenft Mexican scene. Except for a fountain added at the center of the theoutdoor patio, kitchen and remaininyg interior were installed when Mangia’s moved in. “That’sw exactly what we’re looking for,” Steven Bulger, planning board said of re-using built-out real “It makes sense. The town is maturing and a lot of infrastructurer is alreadyin place.
It’s easier and more economica to retrofit than to startfrom scratch.” Arellano said he and his wife weren’t deterred by a slow economy: The couple self-fundex La Fiesta with proceeds from the sale of the Grooms Road and increased revenue from the Coloniee Pancho’s. Sales there rose 40 percent when Garcia’s in Colonie closed in late RafaelArellano said. There isn’t another independent Mexicanj restaurant in the Exit9 corridor, but a new Tex-Mecx chain establishment will offer competition when it opens across the road. will move into new spaced in mallin early- to mid-December, Chipotle spokeswoman Katherine Newell Smith said. The Denver, Colo.
-based chain opened its firstg upstate restaurant in Wilton in A location in Latham is schedulecd to openin November. plans to add even more retail storefrontx to its mall in Cliftonn Park and build a hotel there despitew thesluggish economy. The developer will transforjm thevacant Steinbach’s at Clifton Park Center into 10 to 15 individuap storefronts, creating an additional 40,000 to 45,000o square feet of leasable space. Across the road from the the Massachusetts-based will open its 11th locatioj in the former FYEmusic store. An opening is plannedr for late summer orearly fall, said John Clifton Park’s director of planning.
And a 14,500-square-foot Walgreensa will be built on the north side of Route 146, where a currently stands. The restaurant, a bank and vacanf storefront will be leveled and the pharmacyg built intheir It’s scheduled to open in the summer of 2010. The & Trust, will move across the street to 7Southsids Drive, said David president of , the compant that owns the Walgreen property and several others on both sidesx of Route 146. Windsor is also negotiating with a restauranft to occupy theformer Applebee’s on Park Avenue, Sussmabn said.
Sussman declined to name the Clifton Park, which normally sustains activity during tougheconomic times, is seeing less commercial movemengt in recent months, said Bulger, the planning boards chairman.