Schmidt's Market In Southampton Ready To Reopen Following Fire

Schmidt’s Market in Southampton Village could reopen by the first weekend in August after being damaged by a fire on May 1.

The reopening has been postponed repeatedly—it was first set for Memorial Day, and then for July 4—but Dennis Schmidt said he is confident that his store will reopen for real this time. The only obstacle could be the delivery of a new salad bar, Mr. Schmidt said: “We won’t open unless we have everything.”

Every other fixture in the store—checkout lanes, flooring, lighting and food cases—has been replaced.

Mr. Schmidt wanted to set the record straight, he said, after rumors began circulating that the market would not reopen until November.

“People almost seem agitated with us,” said Mr. Schmidt. “I know it’s been an inconvenience to people, because they’ve been dealing with us for over 26 years. We have spoiled them.”

The basement of the building sustained most of the damage when fire ripped through, but there was enough damage to force a shutdown of the business. The closing could not have happened at a worse time, considering that Schmidt’s, like many other businesses in the village, relies heavily on the income from summer to get through the rest of the year.

In order to bring in at least a fraction of the money he would have made had the store been open, on Memorial Day weekend Mr. Schmidt began operating an outdoor market from the parking lot of Schmidt’s on the weekends. He was also able to continue to run a wholesale business out of the rear of the building.

Schmidt’s also has two other stores, including a fish market on North Sea Road, from which it runs a catering business.