NORTH SMITHFIELD – A property featuring a vacant building that once held a pharmacy was purchased last month by a Delaware-based entity in foreclosure sale, and the candy store that has long occupied a structure just across the street has moved, bringing change to the busy section of Park Square that fall within town lines.
One Eddie Dowling Highway LLC bought the lot by Stop & Shop that holds a former Walgreen’s pharmacy for $4 million, according to a foreclosure deed filed last week in the North Smithfield Town Clerk’s office. The 2.9 acre property, zoned business highway, was owned by N Smithfield LLC with a mailing address in Wellington, Fl. under manager Maurice Grodensky in 2015.
The pharmacy chain had purchased and combined two lots to build the structure in 2013, demolishing the single-story brick building that once held Mezza Luna Pizzeria, as well as remnants of a Mobil Gas Station, to make way for the project. The store opened in late 2014 following the multi-million construction project, only to close five years later amid national store cutbacks.
The structure has sat vacant since November of 2019.
Irving Shechtman & Co. held on auction on Friday, Oct. 24 and the LLC incorporated in Delaware was the highest bidder for the property. Mortgage on the lot, originally for $5,155,000, was held by Deutsch Bank Trust Company Americas, according to documents related to the sale.
Across the road at 4 Eddie Dowling Highway a candy store that has operated in town for decades has announced that it will move to Bellingham, Mass. Pearls Candy and Nuts owner Steve Goyette said the store will be moving to the plaza at Bellingham Commons sometime after the new year.
A unique landmark, painted with various candy images including a roof dripping chocolate, was built in 1940, according to town property records. The structure reportedly held a candy store that had been closed for around five years when Elissa (Pearl) Loomis bought the property and opened up shop in the 1990s. At the time, the Pearl family owned several candy shops in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The property has been owned by “Sweet Blessings LLC” since 2011, and the store is now run by a third generation of the candy family. Records with the Secretary of State show that the business “Certified Candy Management” at 4 Eddie Dowling Highway was incorporated by Uxbridge, Mass. residents Elissa and Neil Loomis in 1991 and recent reports list Jessica Loomis as president, treasurer and secretary.
In a statement on the upcoming move, Goyette said the North Smithfield store closed without warning, and it was out of his control.
The North Smithfield Building Inspection and Zoning office verified that there are are no violations on file for the property. The plaza behind the Pearls building, a separate lot with an address in Woonsocket, was sold earlier this year.
I’m so happy this candy store is moving across the street to where Walgreens once was on Park Square, It’s much safer and better than taking a risk of crossing a busy street and risking getting hit by a car and risking your life
That is not what this article says. It says the candy store is moving to Bellingham.
Did you actually read the article or just come to your own conclusion by misinterpreting the headline ?
Because they apparently were making plans/in process of changing over…..and let the RI one lapse….not uncommon.
Check the at the state level. It looks like the state revoked Pearl’s business license in 2022/2023 because they failed to file paperwork.