New ‘Upscale’ Food Chain Gala Fresh Farms To Replace Ocean Avenue Waldbaum’s

The Ocean Avenue Waldbaum’s, sold last month as part of the ongoing A&P bankruptcy case, is going to be one of five locations to debut a new upscale, organic grocery chain called Gala Fresh Farms, according to a company spokesperson.

Waldbaum’s, the longtime neighborhood grocer at 3100 Ocean Avenue, is scheduled to close its doors for good on November 18. The store is currently having a clearance sale, offering all items at a discount of 25 – 70 percent. On Sunday, much of the shelves were barren as shoppers hurried through the aisles collecting bargains.

In early October, the store was auctioned off in bankruptcy court to Compare Foods, which plans to convert the location into a new grocery brand, Gala Fresh Farms, which will focus on offering fresh, natural and organic products, a Compare Foods spokesperson said. The building will close for about a month while the company prepares the property to host the new store.

Compare foods is rolling out the new stores in five different locations, including Ocean Avenue. The first Gala Fresh Farms is expected to open within a week in Baldwin, NY, the spokesperson said.

However, several Waldbaum’s employees said they were not happy about the change in ownership. As part of the bankruptcy sale, Compare Foods agreed 25 percent of the hires at its new store would be former A&P workers.

“I’ve been working here for 29 years,” said one employee, who declined to give her name because she worried speaking out could affect her chances of finding a new job. “Seventy-five percent of the people here have lost their jobs. We got cheated.”

Another Waldbaum’s employee, who also did not want to give his name, said workers had their severance pay cut in half while the company’s higher ups walked away with million dollar bonuses.

“A&P screwed their employees,” he said. “There are people here who are 50 or 60 years old. What are they going to do? Full-timers who were making $25 an hour are now going to be making nothing.”

Meanwhile, workers at the Coyle Street Food Basics, sold to Met Foods through the A&P bankruptcy, were optimistic about their future under new ownership. Managers and clerks, who claimed they were not authorized to speak on the record, said they had no reason to think their jobs were in jeopardy, The store is also expected to remain open while it changes hands, they said.