Rimland building is for rent once again

Plans to put another consignment store in the space vacated by the Red Collection last month have faltered.

“It doesn’t look very hopeful,” Michael Mahon, who on Thursday told RiverheadLOCAL he intended to occupy the former Red Collection site with a new consignment shop. Mahon owns 73 Main, a boutique and gallery across the street from the empty space where last week he said he planned to open “The Blue Collection.”

Mahon cited high operating costs, saying that power and heating for the large building combined with insurance costs would be as much as 50 percent of the rent.

Jeff Rimland, owner of the building, said he was not aware Mahon had a change of heart. Rimland said a deal had been discussed but nothing had yet been formalized. 

Mahon said the size of the building put the costs higher than he had expected.

He said he will instead turn his current shop into a consignment store, a process he said is already underway. He said he’s planning a sale to discount many of 73 Main’s high-end items.

“I believe there is more of an interest for that,” Mahon said.

The empty Rimland building was the backdrop of a press conference last week called by the Democratic town supervisor and town council candidates. Angela DeVito, standing in front of the just-vacated space on Oct. 15, criticized Supervisor Sean Walter for taking credit for revitalizing downtown Riverhead. She reiterated that charge in a column published on RiverheadLOCAL this weekend, in which she spelled out her plans for downtown renewal.

Walter said he is in no way minimizing the efforts of private sector business owners who’ve invested in downtown Riverhead or trying to take credit for what they’ve accomplished. His administration has acted to facilitate, rather than hinder, business people seeking to locate downtown.