Smoothie King franchise coming to Ulster Avenue
The Town Board has approved construction of a Smoothie King franchise at the Ulster Commons plaza on Ulster Avenue, but not before hearing concerns about new businesses being built amid available vacant buildings on the town’s commercial strip.
The 1,590-square-foot Smoothie King will be on the same property as a vacant building that was occupied by a Carl’s Jr. restaurant (previously Hardee’s) until this past spring.
Ulster resident Vicki Lucarini wondered at the most recent meeting of the board whether the vacant space could have been repurposed.
“It’s just that we have so many vacant buildings on Route 9W (Ulster Avenue) that why couldn’t this business take up one of those buildings instead of constructing a new building?” she said.
Smoothie King franchise partner Bob Viani said consideration was given to using the vacant building.
“We would love to buy the Hardee’s and repurpose it, but the economics aren’t there,” he said. “It’s cheaper to buy dirt and build a building to make our [business] model work.”
Lucarini responded that the building shown on the Smoothie King site plan is similar to the Hardee’s structure.
“My concern is that we do ... have a lot of vacant buildings on our corridor,” she said.
“We have many different organizations or businesses right now that do offer milkshakes or things like that,” Lucarini said. “And, if [Smoothie King] goes out of business, then we have another vacant building on our hands. Why do we want another vacant building on our hands in another two years or so?”
The Jolly Cow, an ice cream and milkshake shop, is directly across Ulster Avenue from the Smoothie King site.
Town resident Cynthia Bell lamented that Smoothie King will create competition for long-established refreshment stops.
“I’m bummed out because that’s across the street from Jolly Cow, which has been there for a generation,” she said.
“Once they’re going,” Bell said of Smoothie King, “I’m afraid that we’re going to miss our Jolly Cow, and that’s the building that’s going to be the empty building.”
The Town Board approved Kingston SK Cornerstone’s site plan for the Smoothie King building at the recent meeting. The plan also calls for construction of a 3,000-square-foot building for an unidentified retail operation.
Smoothie King is headquartered in Louisiana and has more than 775 outlets worldwide. The closest Smoothie King to the Kingston area is at 1571 U.S. Route 9 in Wappingers Falls.
The Ulster Commons property already is home to a Caremount medical office building, an Ulster Savings Bank branch and a Tractor Supply Co. store.