Market ready to open

Even as Franky Jorge and his crew at Gala Fresh Farms opened for business on Dec. 8, the managers and staff were gearing up for this weekend’s grand opening.

The so-called “soft opening” was better than expected, said Jorge, who runs the store. “The community really came out to show their support,” he said. “People are saying, ‘My friend told me you guys are open.’ So if someone has told them that we’re open, that means they liked it and they’re recommending it. That makes me feel good.”

Jorge added, “One day keeps getting better than the next. Wednesday was better than Tuesday, and Thursday was better than Wednesday. We keep getting better, and the response keeps getting better.”

Gala Fresh Farms, at 2485 Grand Ave., will hold its grand opening this weekend, which will feature free photos with Santa from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. There will be prizes and raffles, along with samples of food.

The store continues to hire. “We’re not fully staffed yet, but we're pretty much there,” Jorge said. “We’re still accepting applications.” Those who are interested in employment can go to the store or visit www.jobs.galafresh.com for more information.

The store will be the first with the name Gala Fresh Farms, and will specialize in fresh and organic stock, including many items that are gluten-free and non-genetically modified.

Jorge cautioned that not all stock was available last week, but he stressed that more inventory was coming in. “We’re still receiving new products every day,” he said, including more organic and gluten-free items. “There was not as much as we hoped for” when the supermarket opened on Dec. 8.

“Today we got two trailer loads,” he said on Dec. 10. “We’re slowly but surely getting what people are asking for.”

In addition, he said he expected that a new chef and baker would join the staff by the grand opening. A new butcher was at work on Dec. 8. Besides a bakery and custom-cut meats, Gala Fresh also will offer fresh sushi and seafood and a variety of grab-and-go items, according to Jorge.

Jorge also said he anticipated that the store would be reducing prices. “Because of the response [from customers], we’re able to be more aggressive with our distributors, so I expect prices to go down,” he said.

Gala Fresh is an arm of the Compare Foods chain, which has stores in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and North and South Carolina. Compare is a family-owned business based in Freeport. A second Gala Fresh is set to open in Riverhead later this month. Other stores are planned for Brooklyn and New Jersey.