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Smithland Supply Opens on Site of Saybrook Bowling Alley

On what turned out to be a warm and sunny mid-October Saturday, Smithland Supply, constructed on the site of the former Old Saybrook bowling alley at 923 Boston Post Road, had its grand opening celebration, complete with free samples of toffee, tea, and tea breads and the company CEO, Craig Ward, grilling steak tips out in front on a grill called a Big Green Egg.

But what happened to the Agway that was expected to be built on the site?

Agway is an agricultural business based in DeWitt, New York that’s a producer and distributor of feed for livestock as well as seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides. While Agway stores sell Agway products, each retail establishment is individually owned.

Smithland Supply is a company that has bought a number of pet supply and lawn and garden stores—some Agways—in Massachusetts and Connecticut and rebranded them under its new name, which pays tribute to Captain John Smith, credited with naming New England. It sells Agway products, but not exclusively. Its website states that by April 2020, it will have 12 stores in New England.

In addition to pet and garden supplies, the store sells products for small livestock, such as goats and chickens. In late winter or early spring, Chick Day events will give customers an opportunity to purchase chicks, along with coops and other supplies for raising chickens.

“We do a lot of work with local pet rescues and support that,” added Ward.

The Old Saybrook location is the first Smithland Supply to open its doors to the public. One half of the store is dedicated to pet supplies with the other half a lawn and garden center, connected to a greenhouse.

Gail McKenney of Haddam arrived on Saturday morning looking for a crate for her brother’s anxious Dalmatian and food for her own picky eater, a Yorkshire terrier named Prince William.

“My friend called me. She says, They’re giving out samples,” McKenney said. “Maybe you’ll find something he’ll eat.

“I shop here in Saybrook,” she explained. “I love Saybrook. I love the Chamber of Commerce and they always have something going on.”

Store employees provided her with samples of freeze-dried food for Prince William, McKenney said.

“So I don’t always have to cook him chicken or liver,” she said.