Rejoice, residents of the town and village of Marathon, and its surrounding areas. Gregg’s Marketplace is here to stay.
The announcement of the grocery store remaining open was made via the Marathon Marketplace Facebook page Monday, and confirmed by co-owner Sherry Gregg Wednesday morning.
The decision comes after the Gregg family announced last week that the store was closing for good.
“It’s a very good turn to the positive,” village mayor Bill McGovern said. “I think a lot of people are very happy.”
McGovern added, “We’re very grateful that the (Gregg) family is able to maintain the store for the village and the (surrounding) areas.”
While the store is able to leave its doors open, the Gregg family will cut it back on being open on a daily basis. Starting June 14, the store will be open Wednesday through Sunday, and the hours each day will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“I hope things will increase in the future,” McGovern said.
The days and hours of operations are meant to accommodate the 10 employees on staff at the store, Sherry Gregg said.
“If we get more help and things get better, we’ll expand the hours,” she added, saying the store is looking to hire new employees as soon as possible.
Departments in the store have not seen any significant setbacks, but Gregg mentioned the biggest concern was the need for employees 18-and-over in the pizza and sub shops.
“Those departments are where we need the most help,” she said. “We’ll see what we can get in terms of help there.”
McGovern noted that he spoke to the owners privately when they decided to close the store at first. He expressed concern with it being “shut down and how significant it would be for the village.”
McGovern, however, doesn’t want to take credit for the decision made to leave the store open, saying “it’s up to them if they can do this or not.”
“We’re trying to do our best to make it work,” Sherry Gregg said.
McGovern also mentioned that he recently had a conversation with Eric Mulvihill, economic development and community relations specialist for the Cortland County Business Development Corporation, about a microenterprise grant through Thoma Development Consultants of Cortland that could potentially assist Gregg’s Marketplace with improvements to the store.
“Now that the store is staying open, I’d like to know if (the Gregg family) could get money for it,” McGovern said.
Gregg’s Marketplace opened in 1972, and has been a staple in Marathon ever since. It is also the only grocery store in that area.
Originally owned by the late Marvin Gregg, Sherry Gregg co-owns the store with her siblings Holly Johnson and Lance Gregg. The family also owns a store in Whitney Point.
