A Gala grand opening

New supermarket opens with high hopes and a visit from Santa

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Praise and excitement marked the grand opening of the new Gala Fresh Farms supermarket this weekend, with customers, business and community leaders, politicians, and even Santa Claus, turning out to celebrate the event.

“I am extremely happy,” said manager/owner Franky Jorge. “The support has been great. I couldn’t have asked for a better response.”

The grand opening kicked off Friday morning with blessings led in English by Msgr. Steven Camp of St. Christopher’s Church in Baldwin and in Spanish by the Rev. Fernando Echeverri of Holy Name of Mary Church in Valley Stream.

The prayers were followed by a ribbon-cutting inside the store, at 2485 Grand Ave. Then, while shoppers browsed the aisles, guests were invited to a private celebratory brunch.

On Saturday, the store offered an opportunity for free photos with Santa, as well as prizes, raffles and samples of food.

“I think it’s one of our nicest stores,” said Dean Janeway, chief executive officer of Key Foods. He particularly cited the “esthetics and the layout.”

Janeway noted that someone standing in the produce section at one end of the store can see clear across to the opposite end. He said that is unusual in supermarkets, where tall shelves and displays can hamper visibility. The effect, he said, is to open up the store visually and make it seem larger. “You don’t see this very often,” he said.

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

The store is also part of the Key Foods cooperative, which is composed of independent markets, like Gala Fresh, as well as two corporate stores, said Michele Gissi, head of interactive marketing and public relations manager.

She described the relationship as “a collaborative effort between us [Key Foods] and the owners. They can bring their own vision to the stores. Where else can you get [greeted] when you walk into a store, and the owner is standing there, saying, ‘Hello, how are you?’”

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