Seaford welcomes Stop & Shop

“Now that this place is opened, ‘thrilled’ is an understatement,” Seaford mother Renee Rankin said of the grand opening of Stop & Shop on Merrick Road last week.

The former Seaford Pathmark was one of 25 supermarkets in the metropolitan area that were converted to Stop & Shop stores following the bankruptcy filing of Pathmark’s parent company, A&P.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place last Friday morning, right before hundreds of shoppers stopped in to check out the new supermarket.

“We’ve seen places come and go,” said Rankin, a resident for 23 years. “Pathmark was here a long time, but now that this place is finally re-opened, it’s great because we don’t have to travel out for food.”

Although Pathmark had shut down only a week earlier, on Oct. 29, Seaford was temporarily left without a supermarket, forcing shoppers to travel to neighboring towns to buy groceries. The pharmacy and bank were left open during the renovation.

“I do belong to a few Facebook groups where moms discuss what’s going on locally,” Rankin said. “There was a light-up this morning on some pages saying the store was finally opened, that it’s clean and that people are excited.”

The new Stop & Shop includes produce, bakery, meat and seafood departments, an extensive assortment of natural and organic products, including more than 1,400 Nature’s Promise products, as well as gluten-free and special diet selections. The store has a refreshed modern décor, an updated refrigeration systems, new lighting, state-of-the-art technology and other improvements.

“If you know anything about Stop & Shop, one of our promises is helping the community,” General Manager Carl Caixeiro said. “We gave out a check this morning to a local organization, and looking at the activity in the store right now, they were waiting for us.”

The store presented a check for $2,000 to Kate Travers, director of program development for Hope to Youth, an outpatient program dedicated to helping facilitate positive change in the lives of children, and Lisa Weissberg, the program’s compliance and human resources executive.

“They love everything we stand for,” Caixeiro said about the shoppers. “I think it’s a better place to shop, and even though we’re a small store, we try to accommodate all the needs of the community.”

Other Pathmarks, in Bayside, Baldwin and Massapequa, were also converted to Stop & Shops as part of a wave of grand openings last week.

“I didn’t expect such an overwhelming response,” Caixeiro said. “The store is packed.”

Many content shoppers roamed the aisles of the store all morning, checking out the produce and deli sections. “It’s very clean, and I like it very much,” Seaford resident Lois Striedel said. “I like the idea of them preparing Boar’s Head cold cuts, which is very important to me. People like to shop here, the lighting is nice and it’s very comfortable.”