Latest Super Foodtown from Allegiance Retail Services adds neighborhood touch

Retail grocery cooperative Allegiance Retail Services presided over the grand opening of a 15,000-square-foot Super Foodtown in East Meadow, New York, a metro New York City suburb, on Friday. The brand-new, full-service supermarket—occupying the space of a former New York Sports Club and, years earlier, a Waldbaum’s—brings convenient, affordable food shopping to a neighborhood with a dearth of grocery stores. Samples were offered to shoppers at the event, and tasting demonstrations will continue over the weekend.

Store owner and president Mofeed “Mike” Said cuts the ribbon to officially open the East Meadow store for business. The location marks Said’s second Super Foodtown, with the other in nearby Hempstead, New York. “We’ve been looking for an opportunity to come into the area, but the right footprint proved hard to find. So once we found a significant-size footprint like this one, we jumped right on it,” Said said of the East Meadow store. The new Super Foodtown will offer the community a local destination providing much of their grocery needs as well as a more affordable option, since “the competition is a little pricey,” Said added. “We definitely feel we can provide the people a place where they can come together, shop and find everything they’re looking for, one-stop shopping,” he said.

Just inside the entrance, a fresh foods area with full-service deli, bakery and cake counters marks the highlight of the store. The aisle also contains a fresh-made coffee station, an olive bar and a hot soup bar, which complement a wide array of prepared meals and grab-and-go foods. “That power aisle is just tremendous,” said Allegiance President and COO John Derderian, who was on hand at the opening. “Just as you walk in, the smell of the coffee beans and then walking into the hot food and the bakery areas with some really nice fixtures that show off the product really well—on both sides of the aisle—and then turning into a nicely merchandised meat department, I think he’s [Said] got everything here.”

An expanded produce department, including organic offerings, and full-service seafood counter pull customers in from the front of the store and the rear entrance.

At the seafood counter, a store associate helps a shopper choose from a broad array of fresh fillets, including wild-caught items.

Store owner Mike Said (left) with Allegiance’s John Derderian after the ribbon-cutting. “I’m the president of Super Foodtown of East Meadow and of Super Foodtown of Hempstead. We’ve been doing business now for about 10 years, and we’re looking to grow further in Long Island and, how do I say, revive the old days when Mel Weitz reigned supreme with the Foodtown name in Long Island,” Said told WGB. Weitz, who died in 2015, ran high-volume Melmarkets Foodtown supermarkets in the region before selling the business to Stop & Shop Cos. in 1995.

Leading off the fresh foods “power aisle” is a coffee station that serves up fresh-ground brews and likely will be a neighborhood gathering spot for shoppers.

Next to the coffee bar, which serves a dual role as a sampling station, customers can choose from 14 varieties of coffee beans to grind and take home. Pre-ground bags of the coffee also are on shelves in the center store area.

An expansive cold-beer section is situated just inside the rear entrance, providing an in-and-out pickup spot for customers.

Similarly, the new Super Foodtown houses a floral section just inside the rear entrance for shoppers seeking bouquets, ready-made arrangements, plants or gifts.

Shoppers passing through the prepared foods aisle turn directly into the fresh meat department, which includes a broad assortment of beef, poultry, pork and other items.

Highlights of the meat aisle include Allegiance’s Green Way better-for-you meat brand and Rancher’s Legend premium Black Angus beef, which the company said offers steakhouse-quality beef at supermarket prices.

In the bakery department, clear plastic-windowed bins show off fresh-baked rolls and breads.

Right inside the front entrance, customers will see an island display with specialty and imported cheeses.

A well-stocked dairy department showcases a wide selection of staple items.

Other private labels at the Super Foodtown include the Foodtown store brand as well as Best Yet.

A hot soup bar provides another destination for customers seeking a quick to-go meal or side dish.

Beside the customer service counter is a digital coupon kiosk that helps shoppers find extra savings for their store visit.

“There’s plenty of competition, and there’s plenty of chain competition,” Derderian said of the new Super Foodtown. “I think what Mike [Said] and all of our members [at Allegiance Retail Services] bring is the family element, being part of the community and satisfying the needs of the community. It’s not just saying, ‘Here’s our store. Come shop us.’ It’s really, ‘What do you need?’ And we’ll make sure that we provide that for you.”

Super Foodtown of East Meadow also provides online grocery pickup and delivery via its own Foodtown On the Go service as well as delivery through Instacart. Said said about competing in this market area, “Before we came in and decided what we were going do with our pricing, we took a hard look at the competition. We wanted to beat them and give the people a reason to come and shop here. So we made sure that when they do shop here, they know that they’re getting a good deal and the best quality.”