Oct. 22--NEW HAVEN -- When will construction be complete and how many people will the new paint store on Whalley Avenue ultimately employ?

Ask Sherwin-Williams General Manager Brian Taylor: The target date for opening the Fortune 500 company's New Haven store is May or June 2010 at the latest, he said, "unless we run into a hiccup we didn't anticipate."

Neighborhood reception for the home decor business painted a sharp contrast to its hostile response to a Laundromat's efforts to move into the location at 454 Whalley Ave., between the new Walgreen's and Dunkin' Donuts near the intersection of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard.

Last year, Precision Wash-n-Dry got city approval to open there, but the process stalled when a neighborhood group appealed the Board of Zoning Appeals decision to Superior Court. Attorney Anthony Avallone ushered the Laundromat through on behalf of the property owner, New Haven Surplus LLC. With that proposal mired down, the owner found another potential occupant. Last month, Avallone ushered Sherwin-Williams though the BZA process.

"I'm assuming that with all the neighborhood support that it will be approved," Avallone said Wednesday.

Taylor said New Haven was a naturaldestinationandsketched out the plan to the Whalley/ Edgewood/Beaver Hills Management Team this week.

The store would employ four people, two full time and two part time. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, with shorter hours on weekends.

Considering 85 percent of Sherwin-Williams business is commercial, the business model made sense in New Haven, he said, with the city's densely populatedneighborhoods,large number of rental units and downtown building boom.

For residents, the business will be a close source for paint, stain, wallpaper, blinds and other treatments.

"We appreciate that Sherwin-Williams has chosen this neighborhood," said Rabbi Eliezer Greer, who had been a vocal opponent of Precision Wash-n-Dry, citing concerns along with other residents about loitering, litter and other potential problems.

Even as a new store prepares to move into the Whalley Avenue corridor, two others are leaving at the other end of the commercial district.

The Staples office supply store at 84 Whalley Ave. is slated to close next month. Last month, the Rite Aid next door closed.

John Vuoso, chairman of the Whalley Avenue Special Services District, said plans for the parcels are unknown. He said Save-a-Lot food chain has expressed interest in the Rite Aid site, which caused him at least some concern. While stressing he was probusiness, he noted the Shaw's Supermarket, which the community and state invested a lot of money in and worked very hard to secure, is just a few doors down.

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