Food Bazaar to buy 14 Western Beef stores, expanding on Long Island
What's the deal? Bogopa Service Corp.Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Queens-based parent of Food Bazaar SupermarketsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, is acquiring 14 of Western BeefDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s 19 New York-area stores, according to industry sources. Terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close within the next few weeks.
What changes? Four of the Western Beef stores are on Long Island — in Carle Place, West Hempstead, Elmont, and Roosevelt. That lifts Food Bazaar's Long Island presence to seven stores and its New York-area total to 52.
Who's involved? Food Bazaar operates 38 stores across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Korean-born Francis An founded Bogopa in 1988 with a single Queens store, aiming to sell ingredients used in Latin cuisine.
What about Western Beef? The chain opened its first warehouse-style supermarket in Flushing, Queens, in 1980 and now runs 19 stores in the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Nassau County. Earlier this year it created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and labels itself 100% employee owned. It's unclear how the deal affects that status, though one employee told LIBN they would keep their job under new ownership.
Why now? The deal is the latest in a wave of shakeups across the region's supermarket industry. Earlier this month, Giunta's Meat FarmsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → closed its acquisition of the 96-year-old King KullenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → chain, adding 24 supermarkets and four Wild by Nature markets.
The signal: Consolidation is reshaping Long Island grocery, opening room for new entrants. AldiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → now has 17 stores there and LidlDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has 20 — many converted from the Best Market chain it bought in 2018 — while Trader JoeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s runs eight and wants more.
Read more: libn.com
Image credit: Eric__I_E
