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Update: Western Beef Supermarket - Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, NY

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By Zachary
Western Beef Supermarket
Owner: Peter J. Castellana III
Opened: ca. 2005
Previous Tenants: A&P (1980s-ca. 2000)
Cooperative: Associated Supermarket Group
Location: 2040 Forest Ave, Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, NY
Photographed: January 13, 2023
Remember this store? It's been some time since we first toured this 40,000 square foot store which takes up most of a former A&P in far northern Staten Island. The A&P closed around 2000, and Western Beef moved in around five years later but was open no later than 2007. I'm not sure whether Western Beef originally took up the entire 52,000 square foot building, but around 12,000 square feet of it is now a discount store on the left side. If you look at my previous photos, you'll notice that the department signage to the left of the Western Beef logo has been removed, but the store has not been reduced in size since then. It's possible when that space was vacant, Western Beef was allowed to put signage over the area. It seems that the downsizing may have happened at some point between 2010 and 2018, when I first visited.
As we'll see, Western Beef has reinvented itself a bit -- for the better, for sure -- since we were here last, and I believe this is the first of the new-style stores we're seeing on the blog. I've been to another one or two, but I'm not sure if they've been posted.
The layout hasn't been changed but the decor and the fixtures certainly have. It's a totally different shopping environment, not to mention a very different product mix with a lot more organic and specialty choices. At the end of the day, though, they're still a value-based retailer, so you won't find anything too fancy here.
Notice that the drop ceiling has been painted black across the store. I'd rather it was removed entirely, of course, but this still looks really good.
I find this decor quite pleasant, and very much in line with the Western Beef positioning. It's much more modern and higher end-looking, but it's still not too serious and is very colorful and works well with the store.
The deli looks great opposite produce, with all new decor and fixtures. As you can see, the flooring has been updated around the store, too. One of the best features of the store's new decor is that it's extremely colorful -- which is a good thing.
Even though the store may be smaller than its original size, it still feels like a normal and intentional layout. The renovation to cut back the size must have been pretty extensive.
Looking along the back wall. The entrances to the meat department room haven't changed, and if we head into the meat room itself, nothing has changed either...
This is a hard concept to renovate, since it's so specific and not very decor-reliant. The signage that is here, though, is fully left over from pre-renovation...
It makes sense more or less in the butcher room, since it really is a separate department that feels like a store-within-a-store.
And if we head into the grocery aisles...
...I don't believe the fixtures have been changed, but the flooring, ceiling, and lighting certainly have been. It's a very attractive center store.
In the time that we've been away from Western Beef territory on the blog, too, they've joined the Associated Supermarket Group and their storebrands are now Avenue A (from ASG) and Best Yet (from C&S).
The fixtures in the frozen department were not updated, but it seems that they were new enough anyway.
And moving on to the bakery department, we find that the department signage has been updated, but not the signage on the cases themselves. Also note that there's not actually a service bakery counter here for things like cakes, and all of those are packaged in the refrigerator cases next to the bakery department even if they are made on site.
Here in the last aisle we have the dairy department, and a few lights that need to be replaced. Other than that, this aisle looks fantastic.
As does the front end. I am really impressed with this remodel, because this is a really new direction for Western Beef -- not to mention before this, they were using the same decor package for many, many years.
Tomorrow we're returning to northeastern Pennsylvania, but for now, check out today's other posts here!
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