Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket Transformed, It's Beautiful Says Long Time Resident - Owner John Catsimatidis Kept His Promise For Gristedes Improvements And Much More

Roosevelt Island Gristedes Grand Re-Opening

The long awaited transformation of the much maligned Roosevelt Island Gristedes is finally completed and this week is the Grand Re-Opening of our local supermarket. Have you been in Gristedes recently - what do you think?

On Tuesday, I asked a long time Roosevelt Island resident, 39 years, what she thought of the new Gristedes and she said:

... it was beautiful. Roosevelt Island should be proud of this store...

Almost one year ago today, Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis spent several hours speaking with Roosevelt Island residents at a Town Hall meeting (video of meeting is here) and promised:

... improvements to be made at Roosevelt Island's Gristedes include offering more fresh produce and organic products at affordable prices....

During the March 12 Town Hall meeting, Mr. Catsimatidis heard:

... complaints expressed to Mr. Catsimatidis included expired products on shelves, dirty floors, inadequate product offerings, counter conveyor belts not working, long lines at checkout counter, lack of a full service pharmacy, leaking roof, poor lighting among others....

and Mr. Catimatidis resolved:

... to fix the problems described and urged any resident to contact him with specific complaints which will be addressed. He also asked for suggestions as to how to improve the store. I thought a great idea was suggested by resident Deborah Beck who recommended that the new store design include moving the store entrance from the dark tunnel like side entrance to better lit Main Street directly across from Manhattan Park....

Now that the Roosevelt Island Gristedes renovation is complete - how did Mr. Catsimatidis and his colleagues do? Commenting earlier this week, one resident said:

I really dig the new Gristedes. I also see an "upgrade" in staff. It was a very pleasant experience yesterday. The renovations are not quite done, though. The exit door is still being worked on.

another reported yesterday:

There's a party going on! Lots of free samples, some of which are good! The store is well-stocked and looks nice. Many of the items are lower in price than they were in the past -- sometimes down to normal. I hope they keep it up.

Free Samples At Roosevelt Island Grand Opening Preview Yesterday

though one skeptic expressed concern that improvements might not continue:

when they became a superstore a few years ago . the first few weeks the prices were low just to get people in as they were trying to fool everyone but then after a few weeks it was back to the same high prices so i am sure this will be the same .long live the shoppers bus.

I've been there the last couple of days and I think the Gristedes folks did a FANTASTIC JOB. Gristedes even listened to resident Deborah Beck's suggestion made at the Town Hall meeting and moved the store entrance to the better lit side of Main Street.

I spoke with Mr. Catsimatidis at yesterday's Grand Opening. He promised that:

 ...the quality will be there ...we guarantee everything...  I answer every email. If you have any complaints let me know...

About Gristedes pricing, a Gristedes representative said:

... you're not going to see we open up with real hot prices and all of a sudden we raise prices...  what the market bears we're going to give you the price when we can make a deal we're going to pass it on to you... we're trying to give you a fair but better quality package...

Main Street Retail Master Leaseholder David Kramer from Hudson Related attended yesterday's Gristedes Grand Opening Celebration as well. I asked Mr. Kramer what he thought of the Gristedes renovation and he said:

It's Big...  Gristedes is the anchor to Main Street... I think it is a great big step for Gristedes and great big step for Main Street retail... Gristedes becoming a more successful anchor is going to have a multiplier effect for the rest of the corridor.

 Mr. Kramer added:

...Trellis is starting renovation sometime this calendar year.... two more stores are about to open... three or four in the pipeline...

Here's the full interview with Mr. Catsimatidis and Mr. Kramer



and reactions from Roosevelt Island residents as well as Gristedes meatball vendor Mama Mancini's.



Meet the new Roosevelt Island Gristedes offerings.

The  delicatessen,

International Foods,

Organic, Natural and Sugar Free,

Vegetables,

Craft Beer,

Cafe,

with pizza, ice cream, fried chicken and meals to go

and the pharmacy.

It's a very good beginning for the Roosevelt Island Gristedes. Let's hope it continues.