What should replace Brewster's Value Village: Here are your thoughts

Michael P. McKinney, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·2 min read

What should replace the former Value Village, the all-purpose Brewster discount store with the three-screen Empire Cinema that closed last year?

Readers fall into different camps on that.

Trader Joe's got mentioned at least four times, in a Journal News/lohud.com poll. It was either readers' lone response or one of a couple of their ideas for the future of the spot in Towne Centre plaza at Routes 22 and 312 in Putnam County's southeastern corner.

A Target got five mentions, either as a sole suggestion or as one of several offered by readers, while others said they want something similar to what had been there for years: a discount store with a cinema or simply a cinema.

Value Village in the Towne Center Shopping Center on Route 22 in Brewster Feb. 24, 2023. The store recently closed after many years at that location.
Value Village in the Towne Center Shopping Center on Route 22 in Brewster Feb. 24, 2023. The store recently closed after many years at that location.

The Value Village space and some adjacent properties are listed for lease by brokerage Aries Deitch & Endelson.

Readers' other ideas

A sampling of other responses for the space:

∎A bowling alley

∎A big movie plex

∎ShopRite or Stew Leonard's type grocery store

∎Restaurant

∎Alamo Drafthouse

An Aldi or a Christmas Tree Shop were also mentioned.

Value Village opened in 2002 with a 20,000-square-foot retail store plus the movie screens in the back called Empire Cinemas. Moviegoers could walk through Value Village's health and beauty aids area into a cinema lobby. There were 360 seats spread across three rooms to watch new-release movies.

Upset it closed or not?

Were readers upset it's closed?

Twenty-four said yes, while 10 said no.

What people used to buy there

Asked what they used to shop for there, answers included: school and household supplies, snacks, greeting cards, holiday items, candles, books, toys. One reader shopped for an outdoor patio. Another for headphones and kitchen utensils.

And one person offered this: "When ever I went there is was for some random thing that I didn't think I would find somewhere else -- I sorta liked that about them. And I did like the movie theater, but I only got to go there once sadly."

New stores: Barnes & Noble is returning to Hartsdale

Closing: Elmsford Bed Bath & Beyond, and all Harmon stores, will close

Opening: Luxury cat hotel with themed suites coming to Greenburgh

A young adult filmmakers panel was held at Empire Cinema during 2014’s festival.
A young adult filmmakers panel was held at Empire Cinema during 2014’s festival.

Richard Freedman, president of Stamford, Connecticut-based Garden Homes Management that owns the shopping center, has said there have been inquiries about the space but nothing at this point to report.

Michael P. McKinney covers growth and development in Westchester County and the Lower Hudson Valley for The Journal News/lohud.com and the USA Today Network.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Your options for what should replace Value Village in Brewster