New Beginning for Grocer and Blockbuster Ending

It's a new beginning for the Associated supermarket in Malverne, and the end of an era for the Blockbuster in West Hempstead.  

In February, that Associated, which closed up shop in late 2010, was preparing for a comeback in the village of Malverne. With new owners, management and ideas for turning the business around, the store is just days away from opening its doors.

Carlos Pichardo, the new owner of Malverne's only grocery store, and his manager, Noel Collado, spoke to village officials and residents at the board of trustees meeting on Wednesday. They are trying to get the word out that they expect the supermarket to be much better than what residents had encountered in the past. 

"Everyone is beautiful in this town," Collado said, acknowledging that many residents have tapped on the store's door while they have been working inside to welcome them, offer their best wishes and give tips for how they can succeed. 

“We are here to make everyone happy," Collado said.  "We have a lot of work to do, we undertand [but] give us a chance. We want to change things around and make things better."

Pichardo, who stated that he had been working in the grocery business for a longtime and has run successfully supermarkets in Queens and Long Beach, said they are working to regain the trust of residents that was lost when the previous owner ran the business into the ground.

"We're trying to bring the community grocery you can trust, grocery you can buy all the time and when you bring the product home you can put it on the table," Pichardo said. 

Mayor Patricia Norris McDonald, who recently visited the store and met with the new business team, said. "I know how important having a grocery store is for everyone in the community, especially the seniors."

According to McDonald, a bus from the Town of Hempstead has been taking the seniors in the community to supermarkets in neighboring towns to do their shopping.

"We're a very unique and giving community and we’re very open," McDonald said, but told the new owners that they will definitely need to win back the trust of the residents who were unsatisfied with the service they received from the last Associated owner. 

McDonald did point out though that she had shopped in the Long Beach Associated that the current owners are affiliated with and said she had been impressed by that grocery store.

"We are trying to do the best for the community and all we ask of the community is to give us a chance," Pichardo said.

While he was hoping to have a soft opening this Friday, this has now been pushed off until next week. Collado told Patch today that he now expects the store to open up closer to March 11 with a grand opening held at a later date.

He had explained that the previous owners left the building dirty and filled with boxes and products that are now expired. His crew, including some of his family members, have been working late each night to clean out the store, apply a fresh coat of paint and stock the shelves with new inventory.

As much as they are eager to open up for business, he said, "we want to open the store in the right way."

Meanwhile, in neighboring West Hempstead, another store is preparing to close its doors. The Blockbuster located on Hempstead Turnpike has posted signs on its windows announcing its closing and putting the entire store on sale.

A store employee announced that they plan to close up shop on April 10. The video rental store, part of the Blockbuster chain, is one of nearly 200 locations slated to close in the early part of 2011. In the past two years, they have closed over 1,000 underperforming stores as they struggled to compete with the success of companies such as Netflix, which allows customers to rent movies by mail or direct streaming to their home entertainment devices.

Last September, Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and in late February, announced that it had initiated a process to sell the company, stating that this is the  "best means of maximizing value for Blockbuster’s stakeholders."

In a statement released by Blockbuster on Feb. 21, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Keyes said “By initiating a sale process at this time, we intend to accelerate our Chapter 11 proceedings and move the Company forward. The purchaser will be able to take full advantage of Blockbuster’s many strengths, which include an internationally recognized brand name, an exceptional library of more than 125,000 titles, millions of loyal customers, and a multi-channel content distribution platform. Because of its ability to deliver physical content (through DVDs) and digital content (through streaming), Blockbuster can offer customers the unique ability to access any movie, any time.”

Stay with Patch for more local business news.