Key Foods takes over at former Mattituck Waldbaum’s
The supermarket in Mattituck Plaza still has a giant green “Waldbaum’s” sign hanging over the front doors. But it’s no Waldbaum’s anymore.
The store, which was sold in September at auction as part of a massive bankruptcy filing by Waldbaum’s owner Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., reopened Wednesday as a Key Foods.
“We’re excited to be here and to improve the store,” a Key Foods manager said Thursday.
Key Food now has several locations across Long Island, including Farmingville and Kings Park. TheStaten Island-based company — which was founded in Brooklyn in 1937 — also operates stores across New York and in neighboring states like New Jersey and Connecticut.
Various trucks carrying food and products circled around the store Thursday morning, unloading their supply to restock the store. There’s no produce yet, because the shelves all needed to be wiped clean.
“It hadn’t been cleaned in some time,” the manager — who didn’t give his name — said. “We didn’t want to put fresh produce on dirty shelves.”
Workers inside the store put up new signage Thursday and were seen setting up display areas with potted plants for sale.
The former Waldbaum’s was one of dozens to be sold in the A&P Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Mattituck Waldbaum’s had been listed among roughly 270 stores its parent company, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, was seeking to “sell or assign” as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to court documents. The store had been operated by A&P since 1972.
A Riverhead location was closed through the bankruptcy.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many Waldbaum’s employees remained employed under the new owners.
