Vince's Sports Center to remain open as deal with Lidl falls apart

Jeff Neiburg | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Vince's Sports Center stays open after deal falls through Family owned Vince's Sports Center, a source for fun, is going to stay open, after business deal to sell to a German grocery story chain Lidl falls apart.

Phil Santucci first took the sign off the road a few months ago.

The notice of an exploratory land development plan sat inside Vince's Sports Center in Ogletown while negotiations with the discount grocery store that wanted to buy the near-18-acre property and build a 36,000-square-foot store were falling apart.

When a contract with Lidl was terminated Friday, Santucci took a chainsaw to the yellow sign and posted photos to Facebook.

Vince's Sports Center, a staple on the intersection of Gender and Chestnut Hill roads since the early 1980s, will live on, ending a three-year process that had Santucci scrambling to relocate and some community members bracing for the potential of a new grocery store option.

"It’s very rewarding today to not have that on our shoulders anymore and be able to move on and keep going on with other projects here," Santucci, 51, said.

Lidl, Santucci said, first approached him in February 2015 to buy a business that wasn't for sale. But everyone has a price, and Santucci eventually came around to the idea of relocating his multi-purpose facility to give way to a redevelopment on the property his father, Vince, a mushroom grower, first purchased 37 years ago.

The plan to build a new grocery store was approved by New Castle County Council in November of last year when Council voted to rezone a portion of the property and amend restrictions that limited its use to a recreational center.

Construction was expected to start this spring as Lidl, the German-based grocer with more than 10,000 locations, continued its U.S. expansion.

But Santucci said he was surprised in February when a meeting at Vince's with stakeholders revealed Lidl was interested in renegotiating the purchase price. A 90-day window was given, Santucci said, and Lidl didn't come up with an agreeable offer.

“They didn’t meet our agreed price," Santucci said. "I wasn’t comfortable with what they counter-offered.”

Lidl, which has a location in Middletown, responded to a request for comment with an email from a spokesperson saying, "We are looking at a number of sites in the area, and are not addressing each individual one at this time. We look forward to working with New Castle County as we expand."

A source with experience in zoning and land use said renegotiating like this is not uncommon after a company — in this case Lidl — does its due diligence in analyzing and surveying a property it plans to purchase.

County councilwoman Lisa Diller, who represents the area, said she was disappointed the deal fell through.

"The community members had been looking forward to the store," Diller said.

"I just felt like it was a very positive experience up until it didn’t go through," she said.

Diller also knows the sports facility has history in Ogletown.

"Look, everybody loves Vince’s," she said. "Every kid that I know has done some kind of birthday party or event over the years.

"Nobody is upset about Vince’s being open longer, that’s for sure."

That's especially true for Santucci, who realized in his own due diligence that he probably wouldn't find a much better location.

"Looking at all the properties we were looking at told me I actually had the best location in town," he said. "I have three schools that could walk to me. It’s a college town. I know all my neighbors. We have a lot of support from the community here."

“I kind of had mixed feelings," said Phil Santucci Jr., 25, who will eventually become the third generation owner of the business. "It would’ve been exciting and kind of a new adventure. But at the same time it’s kind of where I grew up.”

That opinion was expressed by many on Facebook over the weekend.

"This is great news," wrote David Ruark. "My kids will never know a different Vince's."

A different Vince's would've likely meant no more par 3 golf course. The course takes up 13 of the 18 acres, Santucci said. He was looking at a smaller property, about five acres or so, and would've included go-karts.

Santucci said there's no hard feelings toward Lidl and business is business.

As for the future of Vince's? Santucci said he learned a lot during the process about zoning and what he could potentially do on the property. Lidl's plans included a 5,000-square-foot restaurant on the property and Santucci said he'd explore that option with a lease or maybe even a partial sale. And there's still the possibility for go-karts.

But, for now, it's still the same old Vince's.

"We had plan A, B and C," Santucci said.

What letter is this one?

“I think it’s plan B, for sure," he said. "We were good either way. But now we don’t need to move all this stuff.”

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Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, jneiburg@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.