Two Queens, New York-based supermarket chains will combine with the sale of 14 units in New York City and on Long Island.
Bogopa Enterprises, the operator of 38 Food Bazaar supermarkets, will “beef” up its store count by acquiring 14 of the 19 Western Beef locations. The stores will transition to the Food Bazaar banner through the end of October, according to the company’s posts on Google Maps.
The collection of stores included in this transaction includes six in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn, one in Queens, two on Staten Island, and four in Nassau County. Bogopa appears to not be pursuing Western Beef’s smaller locations, and it’s unclear whether Western Beef is separately exploring transactions to sell those. The warehouse-style meat supermarket chain’s locations range from around 10,000 square feet up to around 50,000 square feet.
A Bogopa acquisition of these Western Beef units fits in line with both chains’ recent histories. Over the past several years, Western Beef has closed or sold numerous locations, pulling out of Westchester County, New Jersey, Florida, and Manhattan. Meanwhile, Food Bazaar has consistently expanded with a combination of organic growth and acquisitions from competitors like A&P, Stop & Shop, and Fairway Market. A 14-unit acquisition would be Bogopa’s largest transaction to date, and would bring its total store count to 52.
Both operators have seen changes at the leadership level in recent years, too. Bogopa’s longtime Executive Vice President Edward Suh took over as President and CEO of the family-owned chain in the fall of 2025. At Western Beef, owner Peter J. Castellana, Jr. passed the reins through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) last spring after hiring Rebecca Philbert as President of Retail Operations in the summer of 2025.
Internally at Western Beef, Castellana and his son, Peter J. Castellana III, had disagreed about the future of the chain. The younger Castellana, who inherited the business when his father retired in 2013, sought to use the supermarket operator’s real estate for development, while the elder Castellana felt it was important to continue running low-cost supermarkets in New York City’s lower-income neighborhoods.
In 2019, Castellana Jr. returned from retirement to retool the supermarket chain, including completing remodels at almost every location, reopening closed units, and switching suppliers. Western Beef’s ESOP earlier this year was one way to ensure the business continued running as a grocer even if Castellana Jr. wasn’t involved day-to-day, but the company may have determined the best path forward is to sell to another operator.
October 15: 1041 Prospect Ave, Bronx
October 16: 1564 Southern Blvd, Bronx
October 17: 831 Rosedale Ave, Bronx
October 18: 44 Empire Blvd, Brooklyn
October 19: 130-35 Merrick Blvd, Springfield Gardens
October 20: 1717 Dutch Broadway, Elmont
October 21: 322 Nassau Rd, Roosevelt
October 22: 605 Woodfield Rd, West Hempstead
October 23: 192 Voice Rd, Carle Place
October 26: 301 Morris Ave, Bronx
October 27: 1851 Bruckner Blvd, Bronx
October 28: 2050 Webster Ave, Bronx
No date listed: 2040 Forest Ave, Staten Island
No Google Maps listing: 425 Bay St, Staten Island
Not included:
3629 White Plains Rd, Bronx
145-35 Rockaway Blvd, South Ozone Park
47-05 Metropolitan Ave, Ridgewood
814 Jamaica Ave, Brooklyn
994 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn