51 Waldbaum’s and Pathmark stores on Long Island closed by late November 2015, following parent company A&P’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Most of those stores have since been taken over by other supermarkets, including Best Market, Stop & Shop, ShopRite, Key Food and others. Below are six grocers that are growing on Long Island.
Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace
With six locations across Long Island, including East Meadow, Massapequa, Port Jefferson Station, Port Washington, Smithtown, and Melville, Uncle Giuseppe’s is a premier food retailer that is known for their customer service and quality products. The most recent location to open was the Melville store, which opened its doors in December 2017.
Stew Leonard’s
The Connecticut-based family owned and operated grocer has opened two locations on Long Island within the past two years – one in Farmingdale opened in 2016 and the second location opened in East Meadow in August 2017, a 70,000 s/f grocery store featuring farm fresh items, bakery, garden, catering, and more.
Best Market Grocers
Replacing 12 Waldbaum’s, locally owned and operated Best Market’s Long Island presence has grown tremendously over the past three years. The grocer’s 25 Long Island locations include: Merrick, Commack, New Hyde Park, East Meadow, East Northport, Oakdale, East Rockaway, East Patchogue, Farmingdale, Riverhead, Franklin Square, Selden, Great Neck, Shirley, Syosset, Hicksville, West Babylon, Huntington, West Babylon South, Islip, Westhampton Beach, Lake Grove, West Islip, Massapequa, and a warehouse in Bay Shore. The company is headquartered in Bethpage and has been family owned and operated since 1994.
ShopRite
Wakefern Food Corp., the merchandising and distribution arm for ShopRite, has grown into the largest retailer-owned co-operative in the country. With 13 Long Island locations, four of which opened in former Waldbaum’s locations, ShopRite is a growing grocer on Long Island.
Hmart Supermarket
Asian-American supermarket chain specializing in providing Asian foods, is the largest Asian American grocery store with 61 locations nationwide, three of which are located on Long Island. Hmart’s Long Island locations are in Great Neck, Jericho, and Williston Park. The Jericho location, which opened in a former Waldbaum’s location, is more than 60,000 s/f.
North Shore Farms
Specialty grocer known for its motto “Eat Well. Live Better.” was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Glen Cove. The grocer currently has six stores open on Long Island (Commack, Glen Cove, Great Neck, Mineola, North Bellmore, Port Washington) and will open another Long Island location this spring in Hauppauge, in a former Waldbaum’s location. These stores tend to be smaller sized, measuring approximately 20,000-30,000 s/f.
Ron Koenigsberg is the president of American Investment Properties, Garden City, N.Y.
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