Fine Fare Bellport expected to open in November following licensing, equipment delays

The Fine Fare Bellport, a supermarket set to replace the former Cirillo’s Market IGA, has moved its expected opening date to November, ownership has said.

The Fine Fare location at 115 S. Country Rd. in Bellport has faced some delays in receiving necessary licenses and equipment it needs before opening, pushing back plans for an original late summer opening, said co-owner William Lukeman.

The roughly 8,500-square-foot supermarket, small in comparison to most grocery stores, will open “sometime in November, if everything goes correctly,” Lukeman told Newsday Tuesday.

Investments into renovating the property, which include custom refrigeration units and shelving, replaced HVAC systems, electrical panels, gas lines and grease traps, has reached more than $3 million, so far, the co-owner said.

Lukeman, who co-owns the store with two business partners, said a few recent issues have popped up that have delayed the opening. Namely, approval from the New York State Liquor Authority to sell beer and wine at the grocery store, as well as federal authorization to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Both approvals were expected to come about two weeks ago, Lukeman said, and are contributing to the delay, although he anticipates that the SNAP approval will come Tuesday.

“Both those licenses I was supposed to get sooner,” he said.

Compounding the delay is the late delivery of new electronic pricing tags that were also slated to arrive last month, Lukeman said, adding that the shipment of the pricing tags have been “stuck at the port.”

Despite the hiccups, the store is making progress.

Interviews for available job roles continue and management plans to have 45 workers on staff at opening, he said.

Lukeman co-owns five other Fine Fare stores on Long Island with his partners. Of the existing stores in Copiague, Riverhead, Farmingville and two in Brentwood, the Bellport store will be the smallest.

The site of the former Cirillo’s Market IGA, which closed in 2023, had sat vacant for years as community members, including Bellport Mayor Maureen Veitch, advocated for the landlord to bring in another grocery store.