Constantino’s Market in College Town will close on Feb. 13, less than a year after its “highly desired” opening, Fairmount Properties announced Monday.
When asked how he felt about the only grocery store in College Town closing, junior Mathew Quirong said, “Even though it was convenient for students, I wasn’t surprised, because there are a lot of cheaper and better-known options.”
“They had a grocery store?” George Mendez, a junior, asked.
Randy Ruttenberg of Fairmount Properties, the developers and owners of College Town, said in a Feb. 1 press release that Constantino’s was included in development plans for College Town because it had already existed in Fairmount’s portfolio, and that it fit with the company’s merchandising plan, which called for a market. “Unfortunately,” Ruttenberg said, “Constantino’s was ultimately not supported at a level that allowed them to be profitable.”
Referring to College Town’s fairly recent opening, Ruttenberg added that there will always be “some attrition with any development.” He affirmed Fairmount’s responsibility, both to the community and tenants of College Town, to “continue to drive maximum traffic so that everyone can be successful.”
In a Feb. 1 statement, University President Joel Seligman thanked Constantino’s for expanding their business into Rochester and wished them future success.
New inhabitants for the space are as yet undetermined. Ruttenberg said that the former Constantino’s premises will be divided into several different spaces, allowing for more than one business to move in.
Ruttenberg’s press release also noted that, within the next 60 days, Bar 145 and Texas de Brazil will open their doors at College Town, and that this fall, CVS will open a new 14,500-square-foot store at the corner of Mt. Hope and Crittenden.
