Former Brentwood Pathmark to open as Food Bazaar

Supermarket chain Food Bazaar staged a “soft opening” Thursday of a Brentwood store previously operated as a Pathmark by Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.

The approximately 50,000-square-foot store at 101 Wicks Rd. is Food Bazaar’s first on Long Island and 20th overall.

In November, Brooklyn-based Bogopa Service Corp., owner of Food Bazaar, acquired the Brentwood store for $600,000 as part of A&P’s federal bankruptcy auction.

Edward K. Suh, executive vice president at Bogopa, said Wednesday that the soft opening is designed to get the store “operationally perfect” before the grand opening, whose date is weeks away.

The Brentwood store will have about 150 employees, including some from the former Pathmark store.

Food Bazaar supermarkets specialize in ethnic products for black, West Indian and Hispanic shoppers.

“We’ve historically catered to densely populated neighborhoods that have been food deserts, many locations where grocers typically did not go,” Suh said. “We found it important to service those communities and offer them the same things that would be offered in more affluent . . . communities.”

SEE PHOTOS50 chain store openings on LI

In addition to Brentwood, the company’s current stores are in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Five more stores are under development in those areas.

A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors in July. In addition to the Brentwood store, Food Bazaar agreed to buy four stores in Brooklyn and New Jersey for $11.75 million as part of A&P’s bankruptcy auction.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.