Global Partners LP of Waltham, MA, is purchasing Mac’s Convenience Store on Route 100 in Warren. At the July 13 Warren Select Board meeting during which the board approved the new owners’ second-class tobacco and liquor license, Sharon Claflin, the regional manager for Global Partners was asked about the recent controversy regarding the use of the Mad River Path that has a brief section going across the store’s property. The representative was not familiar with the issue, which the board explained was a nonlegal understanding with previous owners that use of the path on the property was permitted by the public that had been revoked by the parent company of Mac’s.
When asked if that would be an issue for Global Partners, Claflin said, “I think it would be something we’d welcome but I don’t have the authority to answer.” She did ask if snowmobiles would be part of the use of the path and was assured that the path does not allow mechanized vehicles such as snowmobiles. Though she could not confirm, she implied it was likely that the new store owners will be amenable to use of the Mad River Path on the store property.
Ross Saxton, executive director of the Mad River Path, said his board spends a lot of time and effort to ensure that the use of trails and paths on private property is working for landowners and businesses, as well as developing those partnerships. He said he was glad to hear that it sounds like the new owners of the store are “community-minded” and would allow path users to access the “short but important” roughly 50-yard section that runs across the Mac’s property to continue striving towards having one continuous path between Warren and Moretown. “It all ties to making our downtown stronger,” he said, and provides an economic connection between path users and the businesses they access.
Global Partners owns approximately 270 stores across the U.S. The store in Warren will no longer be associated with Mac’s convenience stores and will now be called Jiffy Mart.
