What started as a small fruit and vegetable stand in Brooklyn has now become Great Neck’s newest source for grocery shopping.
Best Market held its grand opening Friday at its new location at 40 Great Neck Road, which saw supermarket staff and village officials cut a ribbon signifying the private, family-owned business’ arrival to the peninsula.
“This is an area of Long Island that we really wanted to come in to,” Best Yet Market Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Philbert said. “To be able to offer this supermarket here to the customers who were without one, we’re really honored to be here.”
Best Market founder Ben Raitses began operating his Brooklyn fruit and vegetable stand with his two sons, Aviv and Eran.
In 1994, Aviv and Eran saw an opportunity to expand the business and opened their first supermarket in Ronkonkoma called Produce Warehouse.
Twenty-two years later, and after a name change from Produce Warehouse to Best Yet Market in 2002, the Raitses’ brothers are now owners of 24 Best Market supermarkets across Long Island and New York City.
Philbert said since the company is family-owned and run, there is a lot at stake for its owners should they fail to be successful.
“When you have that much of your own livelihood invested, you’re going to figure it out,” she said. “It’s not like they’re just silent partners somewhere. They come into work everyday.”
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July to protect their A&P, Food Basics, The Food Emporium, Pathmark, Superfresh and Waldbaum’s stores from creditors.
After two rounds of auctions in October, Great Neck’s Waldbaum’s received no bids, leaving residents, employees, and public officials unsure of the future of the supermarket.
A White Plains bankruptcy court judge approved Best Yet Market ’s $4.43 million bid to purchase five Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. supermarkets in November, which included Great Neck’s supermarket for $1.5 million.
Best Yet Market, which is based in Bethpage and operates supermarkets under the name “Best Market,” was also approved to buy a Waldbaum’s in Selden and Pathmarks in Shirley, Islip, and West Babylon as part of the deal.
Philbert, who previously worked as senior vice president of merchandising and supply and logistics at the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., said there is a big difference between a family-owned company like Best Market and corporate supermarket operators with, what she called, “absent parents.”
“We work really hard at it. We try to buy right. We try to turn the merchandise and keep the traffic coming into the store,” she said. “But in any company, things can happen.”
Since she took over as Best Yet Market’s president and CEO in December 2011, Philbert said, the company has grown from 12 stores to 24 with the opening of the Great Neck supermarket.
She said the company planned to grow to 30 stores by the end of 2016.
“We know our responsibilities to the families,” Philbert said. “We take very seriously how many people depend on us.”
Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said the village was excited to have an active, operating supermarket after three months without one.
“We’re so happy to see Best Market here,” Celender said in front of a crowd of about 20 people. “It’s going to be very, very great for our residents and community to have a full service supermarket like Best Market.”
Village of Great Neck Plaza Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen said prior to its arrival in the village, people had told him Best Market was a stable supermarket that would be a good addition to the community.
“We need a full-service supermarket,” Rosen said. “From everything I’ve heard, Best Market is that type of store.”
As shoppers filled the store at Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Philbert said, Best Market has established itself as a valuable and reliable asset to Long Island’s communities.
“That tells you they were anticipating us,” she said. “As you can see by the crowds, I mean, you’d think we were giving something away for free.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by local officials including Celender, Rosen, Village of Great Neck Plaza trustees Lawrence Katz and Pamela Marksheid, North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan and Great Neck Chamber of Commerce President Scott Zimmerman as well as a number of chamber members.
