Hoping for a Metrofresh start
After almost 30 years at Western Beef, a low-cost supermarket chain located primarily in the New York metropolitan area, Richard Fraschilla, the company”™s chief operating officer for the past 12 years, was ready to go out on his own. The Fleetwood neighborhood where his new supermarket Metrofresh is, had been without a market since March 2011, when a Key Food at that location closed just eight months after opening. The lack of a supermarket nearby was a hardship for the area”™s many elderly residents.
“I wanted to bring value to the neighborhood,” said Fraschilla, “with fresh produce, meat, a deli and support the community. We”™re catering to the neighborhood with a lot of prepared foods like veal marsala, penne ala vodka, a lot of Italian items, but we”™re not just focusing on that.”
Fraschilla and his wife, Bea, opened the store June 20. “It”™s been going well,” she said. “We seem to have gotten a good response, but we still haven”™t reached all the customers as far as them knowing we”™re here. We”™re trying to do more advertising and get the website up. Right now that”™s our biggest challenge.”
She said business has been somewhat less than they might have expected in the first two weeks because of the heat wave and also because of the timing of the opening, between Father”™s Day and the Fourth of July. “But we have got our beer license and we”™re getting the lottery in,” she said.
The owner of the Key Food store, Salvatore Gizzo, who was invited in 2009 by then-Mayor Clinton Young to open a supermarket, claimed he was forced to close because of the city”™s failure to follow up on and complete improvements in parking, lighting and landscaping around the store. The Fraschillas, though, have had a very different experience with current Mayor Ernest Davis.
“The city has worked very well with us,” Richard Fraschilla said. “They leased us some spaces on the ground floor of the parking garage. That had been metered parking, so now it”™s free for people going to the store.” He admitted it”™s hard to monitor the parking to make sure it”™s only being used by Metrofresh patrons. “They”™ve been very business friendly. The building department, usually that involves a lot of red tape, but there”™s been none here. You fill out the right paperwork and it gets done. The mayor, to me, has an open door policy. He”™s interested in seeing business grow and serving the community.”
Fraschilla said improvements in lighting and parking had been made before they got there, but said the lighting could still use some work. “But we”™ll be able to tell more about that in the winter. We”™ll see where the spots are where it”™s not adequate. It”™s light in the summer so it”™s hard to tell.”
Work is still being done on the garage and the elevators have been revamped. He was given permission to post signs letting people know that Metrofresh has free parking on the ground floor of the garage.
As for financing this project, Rich said it was hard to get financing. It took a “couple of million dollars to open up, about 50 percent was borrowed. It was a lot of money.”