C RY D E R
P O I N T
MARCH 8
The exterior of the new Met Fresh supermarket opening in Whitestone. Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
New Met Fresh Supermarket to open
soon in Whitestone
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMMED
Met Fresh Supermarket is coming to Whitestone and
local residents are thrilled.
It’s been nearly three years since the community lost
Strawberry Farms Supermarket in a fiery blaze in 2016.
Today, Danny Hamdan, owner/operator of Met Fresh
Supermarket, is looking forward to welcoming the community
soon to their grand opening.
“People come up to us everyday. We have people at my
door every single day,” said Hamdan. “I haven’t came here
without someone actually stopping in their car at the traffic
light, rolling down their window asking when we’re
going to open, what are we going to have, or someone
walking by saying they’re excited.”
With three Met Fresh Supermarket locations in Brooklyn,
this will be the first Met Fresh location in Queens,
reconstructing the former site at 24-11 150th St. The new
site was previously occupied Strawberry Farms Supermarket,
8 CRYDER POINT COURIER | MARCH 2019 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
which was a staple in the community.
The beloved food market had been in the neighborhood
for over 30 years, after a three-alarm fire started
on the ground floor destroying M&M Dry Cleaners
and Laundromat, where more than 100 firefighters had
worked overnight to extinguish the flames.
“People have told us there is no neighborhood supermarket
in this area, everything else is over past the highway,
well over a mile away,” said Hamdan. “We will have
essentially all of the products and a lot more.”
Known for its walk-in beer cave, Met Fresh Supermarket
will have a huge produce section, a butcher with a
meat department, a seafood department with fresh fish,
and an American grocery supermarket with a circular,
along with imports and speciality foods, according to
Hamdan.
“We’ll have a dairy/frozen section, a large deli and selection
of bread. It’s going to be a full-service supermarket,
and we strive on providing customer service,” said
Hamdan. “We have free delivery … we’re a neighborhood
store, where we’ll walk everyone to their car and make
sure everything is okay.”
Although there isn’t a set date yet, Met Fresh Supermarket
is expected to be open at the end of March or beginning
of April, said Hamdan. They’re currently in the process of
bringing in products and working on refrigeration.
“It’s not about doing business that day, it’s about getting
to know the neighborhood and we’re very excited,” said
Hamdan. “It’s going to be a neighborhood market and
we’re going to be a one-stop shop.”
/WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM
