Western Beef, a chain of supermarkets based in Queens, NY, is now 100% employee-owned, according to the company. The first Western Beef opened in Flushing, Queens in 1980, and the chain now operates 19 supermarkets in New York City and on Long Island.
It’s now one of two employee-owned chains in the New York metro area, along with PSK Supermarkets, an operator of Foodtown, Pathmark, Freshtown, and Peck’s Market stores.
The transition to an employee ownership model offers a solution for the longtime family business, which had been in the Castellana family for decades since its founding as Ranbar Packing. But a 2013 transition from Peter J. Castellana, Jr. at the helm of the company to his son, Peter Castellana III, stoked internal discontent. Peter III used the company’s real estate holdings for high-end developments, while Peter Jr. wanted the business to continue on as a supermarket operator.
In 2019, Peter III left Western Beef and returned control of the company to his father. For the Castellanas, this is a succession plan that ensures the company stays in the supermarket business.
In recent years, under Peter Jr.’s leadership, Western Beef has renovated nearly all of its stores and replaced one unit on Long Island. They’ve dropped UNFI as a supplier, joined the Associated Supermarket Group, and sold their stores in Florida. In June 2025, the company hired industry veteran Rebecca Philbert as President of Retail Operations to help lead the company.
They’ve also closed their limited-assortment Junior’s Food Outlet discount stores, transitioning several to full-service Western Beef supermarkets. Western Beef has also introduced a rewards app and offers online shopping through Instacart.
Western Beef joins several other employee-owned supermarket chains in the United States, with the highest-profile being Publix. But here in the mid-Atlantic, the 44-store Redner’s chain was one of the first in the country to offer an employee ownership program.
