NJ News & Views

Improvements are being made at Seagull Square, Lakewood's second largest shopping center, but too late to keep its' largest remaining tenant there.

Walgreen's, a pharmacy and retail store, is in the process of moving to a larger facility that was built in a new strip mall less than half a mile away on Route 9 north in Toms River.

Seagull Square faces Route 9 south.

The exodus of retail tenants has been ongoing for years, but not the improvements, according to Lynn Celli, who closed her ice cream shop in Seagull Square less than two years ago.

"I noticed workers on the roof repairing it, landscapers cutting back shrubs, the lights are on at night in the shopping center, and a couch that homeless people were using as a camp site behind the empty supermarket has been removed," Celli told NJ News & Views on April 29.

Celli, the former proprietress of Kringle's Frozen Delites, which she closed in August 2004, attributed the improvements to new manager Meir Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein is a principal of MSL Management Company as well as a committeeman and current mayor of Lakewood.

While Celli has noted improvements in the overall physical appearance of the shopping center, which is located in the township's Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), she said there there are still ongoing problems that have yet to be addressed.

On the billboard used to advertise retail space for lease in Seagull Square, Celli said there are three different names and telephone numbers, but none of them include the current manager's company name and number.

That information was circulated to tenants in a February letter from former manager Simcha Shain, who is also a member of the Lakewood Board of Education. In the letter, Shain announced to tenants that Lichtenstein would be his successor as manager of the shopping center and provided contact information.

Celli said that just as perplexing, as well as frustrating, former Seagull Square tenant Stop and Shop supermarket continues to lease the anchor store space it left in 2001.

"When I signed my lease in 2002, I was told that a new anchor store tenant would be moving into the former Stop and Shop space," Celli said.

When that never happened, Celli and other tenants filed a lawsuit against the owner and manager of Seagull Square shortly after her store opened for business there. In her legal papers, Celli charged that the shopping center failed to disclose that Stop and Shop could continue to lease its' space without having to occupy it. The lawsuit also alleged that the owner and manager had failed to disclose that Seagull Square was in foreclosure.

The other tenants have since settled with Elihu Weinstein, the current owner of Seagull Square, Celli said. She has not.

On May 15, Celli will finally have her day in court against all former and current owners and managers of Seagull Square - including Lichtenstein.

"Whoever takes on the shopping center, takes on its' debt," she said. "Meir and I had a few conversations about that before he accepted management of the shopping center. It puts us both in a difficult situation since he signed committee and LDC (Lakewood Development Corporation) board resolutions in support of the retail lemon law that I'm advocating."

State Senator Robert Singer (R-30th District), who is also a Lakewood committeeman, is sponsoring the lemon law. Celli said that if the proposed legislation is signed into law, it will require all shopping centers and their tenants to provide a full disclosure of any conditions that could lead to fraud or misrepresentation by either side.

Even if the proposed legislation becomes law, its' protections will not apply to Celli. Next month, she and her lawyers will appear before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso, sitting in Toms River. Celli is asking for an unspecified amount in damages, which she said the judge would affix if he renders a verdict in her favor. Celli said that the trial was expected to take no more than three days. She is also suing the owners and managers of Seagull Square in a separate personal injury lawsuit that has not yet been scheduled for jury trial.

No matter what the outcome, Celli said she will continue to advocate for other small business owners like herself.

From 2002-4, Celli served on the board of directors of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. In 2005, she was appointed to an unexpired term on the LDC board of directors, which oversees the UEZ. In January 2006, she was appointed to a full 3-year term on the LDC board.

Celli said her long-term goal is to promote ethical business practices in Lakewood.

"Opening my store was a dream come true that turned into a nightmare," Celli said. "However, I believe in turning a negative into a positive. The things I am doing right now will hopefully accomplish that for myself and others."