Lehman College From the SelectedWorks of Aisha Al-Muslim October 19, 2014 High-end and low-priced supermarkets expand on Long Island Aisha Al-Muslim Available at: https://works.bepress.com/aisha_al_muslim/63/ SUNDAY, OCT.19, 2014 LEVINE ED /N ILLUSTRATION PHOTO PEOPLE ON THE MOVE See who’s been hired, promoted newsday.com/business F2 LI BUSINESS BUSINESS LI Changing TASTES LANO MI HNNY JO Fresh vegetables are arrayed inside aWild by Nature store in West Islip. Ⅲ More photos: newsday.com/business. Grocerystoresremakethemselves, ment by 10 percent to 30 per- business, as it’s broadly called, week than they used to be. cent, spokeswoman Arlene is a$600 billion industry. Con- They reported using 2.5 gro- as customersseek out organic foods, Putterman said. sumers spend an average of cery “channels” “fairly often,” “We do really well compet- $102.90 per household per FMI’s U.S. Grocery Shopper ready-to-eat meals and moredeals ing against the niche players week, according to the Food Trends 2014 reported in June. and the big-box stores by pro- Marketing Institute. Gina Faiella, 46, of Bellmore, BY AISHA AL-MUSLIM first store in Bay Shore in 2011, viding awide array of healthy Shoppers are much more like- no longer shops at one place. [email protected] now has five locations. options,” Putterman said. ly to visit multiple stores in a She is among consumers who “The food industry has he business of selling Supermarkets dwindling changed over the past five groceries on Long Is- Traditional supermarkets years, and so has the consum- landischanging rap- still bring in the most shoppers er culture. It is amatter of idly, as shoppers’ in- and their dollars, but their num- keeping up with the needs of comes and habits bers here and nationally are the consumers,who are look- Tshift in ways that are shrinking. The Great Atlantic ing for quality, value and get- transforming supermarkets. and PacificTea Co., based in ting in and out quickly.” High-end venues such as Montvale, New Jersey, has Whole Foods and Wild by Na- closed at least adozen Wald- Middle incomes shrinking ture, selling everything from baum’s and four Pathmark One of the factors driving fresh organic prairie bread at $5 stores on Long Island since all this change is shrinking aloaf to 165 grams of freeze- 2010. There are at least 34 Wald- middle-class incomes and ris- dried coconutwater powder baum’s and 20 Pathmarks re- ing prosperityamong higher- for $16.99, are expanding on the maining in Nassau and Suffolk income consumers. Island.Wild by Nature, which counties, according to the com- “High-end and low-end gro- newsday.com is owned by traditional super- pany’s website. cery stores are doing better market chainKing Kullen Gro- King Kullen has 39 tradition- than middle-end grocery 2014 cery, of Bethpage, has grown to al grocery storesonthe Island, stores,” said David Fikes, vice five stores from two in the last downfrom 46 adecade ago. president of consumer and 19, decade. To woo higher-income shop- community affairs and commu- Specialty grocers such as pers, high-end stores and tradi- nications at the Food Market- North Shore Farms also have tional supermarkets are selling ingInstitute, which represents OCTOBER been growing here. awide selection of fresh, less almost 40,000 retail foodstores Meanwhile, stores focused processed, organic and natural and 25,000 pharmaciesnation- on low-priced groceries are ex- foods, as wellasgourmet-quali- wide. “We began noticing more PARASKEVAS panding. Among big-box dis- ty, freshly prepared, and ready- of the diversification in the OHN /J SUNDAY, count retailers that sell grocer- to-eat dishes. years emerging from the reces- 2 ies, Wal-Mart has 14 stores Stop &Shop, for instance, sion. Just as the middle class is WSDAY 3 here, an increase of four from a hasbeen remodeling 13 of its gettingsqueezed ...soisthe NE decade ago. And value-focused 43 stores on Long Island and middle market.” Fresh-baked bread is among organic items sold at Whole Foods 4 NEWSDAY, chain Aldi, which opened its expandingits produce assort- Nationally, the food retail markets. The chain now has three stores on Long Island. LI BUSINESS F3 and my baby,” Lapera said out- side Wild by Nature. “I feel LI there are moreoptions here BUSINESS with their vegetables because everything is organic.” Value at low-income end Value-focused retailers tend to attract shoppers with lower education and lower income — less than $35,000 per year — who are looking for value and savings more than for fresh products, according to FMI. To compete with the de- mand for healthy food, Wal- Mart launched an effort in April with organic grocery pro- vider Wild Oats to provide 70 affordable products —from salsa and pasta sauce to quinoa and chicken broth. The nation- al retailer also operates aNeigh- borhood Market, asupermar- ket-style location in Levittown. “We want to remove the price premiums typically asso- ciated with organicproduce,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman said. Choosing alocation that would attract their target cus- tomerisimportant for food re- tailers because supermarkets PFOST traditionallyhave small profit EVE ST margins, said Jayson Siano, North Shore Farms opened in Glen Cove in ’03 and now has five locations, including Commack, above. Asixth store is due in Bellmore. managing principal of Garden City-based SabreReal Estate shop store by store, depart- willing to pay more on certain Group. Specialty stores have ment by department, based on occasions,according to FMI. moved into spaces where needs. Shespends about $200 a These stores are multiply- midrange supermarkets like week on groceries forher hus- ing their locations on Long Is- Waldbaum’s closed starting in band,son and herself, and ro- land with the expansions of 2010,while other former super- tates among Stop &Shop, King local grocers such as Wild by marketspaces have been filled Kullen and Pathmark. Nature, North Shore Farms, with gyms, he said. “I go to different places de- Uncle Giuseppe’s Market- “Long Island is avery dynam- pending where Iam,” said Faiel- place, Iavarone Bros. Quality ic area where anyone who has a la, who recently bought coffee, Foods and Giunta’s Meat nicheand is good at what they cereal and paper goods at Stop Farms, as well as national and do is typically successful be- &Shop in Freeport. “I don’t regional chains such as Whole causethe high median house- buy just what’s on sale, but the Foods, The FreshMarket and hold income translates to a brands thatIam used to.” Fairway Market. high buying power,” Siano said. Fairway, which sells avari- He was responsible for develop- Many food sources now etyoffresh produce in large ing several local Trader Joe’s, It’s anational trend as well. stores and is known for its wide and representsspecialty gro- “Since the recession, people array of olive oils, olives and cers Kings Food Markets in Gar- EIT are willing to buy food from ethnic foods, went from one lo- IS den City and Balducci’s, which UL different places including cation in 2001 to three this year. is lookingtoopen on the Island. newsday.com drugstores, discount stores, The growth of Wild by Na- Stop &Shop has been remodeling 13 of its 43 local stores and “Overall, there are fewer gro- dollar stores andwarehouse ture is “in response to the grow- expanding its produce sections and healthy options. cery stores on Long Island. The clubs,” said Phil Lempert, na- ing consumer demand for or- smaller markets are not expand- tional food marketingexpert ganic, naturaland wholesome soon in Bellmore. ter” or “best”based on the sup- ing as aggressively. There have from Santa Monica, California- food,” said Joseph Brown, presi- The industry “continues to plier’s farming practices, count- been more old stores closing based SupermarketGuru.com. dent of the chain and senior grow more competitive, which ing factors such as water, ener- than new stores opening.” NEWSDAY, “Everybody wants to sell vice president of King Kullen. is agreat thing for our custom- gy and pesticide use. But like anew restaurant food. It’s not just Long Island, ers,” Tsiatis said. “Healthier Eating foods without geneti- opening up, specialty super- but the entire country.” Healthier food in demand food hasbecome more main- cally modified organisms, pes- markets can lose theirluster Conventional supermarkets Listening to customers’ de- stream, and specialty items ticides and antibiotics, grown with time,said Harry Balzer, SUNDAY, have lost 15 percentofthe mar- mands and trying to keep havebecome more popular. naturally and grass-fed are im- chiefindustry analyst of the ket share over the last 10 years, ahead of trends on new items Providing customers with that perative for Melissa Lapera, NPDGroup, aPort Washing- he said. are essential to compete and to variety and value ...is becom- 37, of West Babylon, who is ton market research firm. Premium and “fresh-fo- gain shoppers’ trust, said ing more of the norm.” five months pregnant. She “Eventually, we wouldde- OCTOBER cused” stores normally attract George M. Tsiatis, spokesman Whole Foods now has three switched from anearby Stop termineifitmakes life easier affluent consumerswith higher for Commack-based North stores,two opened in the last 10 &Shop to the recently and if it saves us money,” Balz- education and higher income Shore Farms, which opened its years. The grocer recently opened Wild by Nature in er said. “In the end, if they 19, —above $100,000 ayear — first location in Glen Cove in began a“responsibly grown” la- West Islip as her primary go- don’tdothat, they won’t be 2014 looking for fresh produce and 2003 andhas expanded to five beling system ranking fruits to placefor organic products.