The Soloviev Group, a true grim reaper of commerce on Shelter Island, has managed to destroy two out of three historic businesses they acquired on the island with the Chequit’s fate in question now as well to no surprise of this paper. Thank you for a gracious exit too, with about ten days of notice before closing the pharmacy window, it was very neighborly leaving seniors and others scrambling to figure out what was happening and then secure alternative sources for prescriptions… And if anyone believes the pharmacy was legitimately losing $50k a month, then you need to wake up. There are only two ways such a burn rate could have happened; gross incompetence or fraud and since the scuttlebutt is that Soloviev wasn’t paying vendors or employees in a timely manner, if at all, it makes one wonder where it was going. They should have stuck to their core competency, not trying to be operators when there wasn’t the expertise (and the people they hired to oversee their businesses can barely count) and on a scale that makes no sense given their holdings. Jack’s Marine and the SI Heights Pharmacy were both run poorly after Soloviev acquired them and began operating them. From merchandising to store condition, everything was lacking.
And if you were looking for the town to swoop in to help with the pharmacy or with island commerce in general, think again! The current administration is a sloppy carryover from the previous administration, following the same toxic playbook of self-dealing and making foolish decisions away from public view. While the previous (and arguably the worst during both his terms) Supervisor Gerry Siller hired Soloviev’s ex-attorney, Steven Kiely, as town attorney and told us there was no conflict of interest, nothing could have be further from the truth. There was certainly conflict and insider dealing as Gerry sat panting like a dog in heat at their behest. Fast forward a couple of years, and now Amber Brach-Williams goes from vice supervisor to supervisor, carrying on the traditions of nepotism and bad decision making and proceeds to pay said town attorney $50,000 of taxpayer money to ‘resign’ after he was caught boinking a subordinate in town hall. Very pimpish of you Amber, are you running a brothel or a town. It is very doubtful he would have sued the town, bringing public scrutiny on that can of worms, in an attempt to collect the remainder of his contract. Money well spent behind closed doors Amber. Oh well and too bad for the island if she is reelected. No extra credit points are awarded in terms of ‘arranging’ Sag Harbor Pharmacy to step in, they simply saw the opportunity to gain a whole new client base at no cost other than a delivery run. Don’t take credit where credit isn’t due. No, we are all screwed if we expect anything from this supervisor and her administration.
Soloviev Group was never truly invested in Shelter Island, despite Gerry Siller wanting to hand Stacy the keys while singing her praises, and Stacy clearly wasn’t the decision maker, therefore she should have never spoken out of place about how ‘she loves this island and nothing will change’ [referring to the businesses they bought]. Under promise and over deliver as they say. And to those who say she was “pushed out”, really…., only because she was burning through money like water, the businesses were all drowning and she hadn’t the foggiest idea what she was doing after going on a Michael Jackson-esque spending spree playing monopoly. Then she was pushed out. What followed showed that Hayden or whoever is responsible for the Shelter Island properties clearly doesn’t give a shit about them either, probably because they’re unimportant in the overall portfolio. Let this be a lesson on the dangers of welcoming strangers bearing gifts, and of new money assholes doing what they please in small towns thus changing the fiber and usually for the worse.
Our next story will run soon, kindly drop us a line with any juicy gossip
