Westside Market Opens 5,500-Square-Foot UES Supermarket

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A family-owned supermarket chain that was founded on the Upper West Side has opened up a new store across town in an effort to compete with the big-name supermarkets of the Upper East Side.

Westside Market opened its newest store, a 5,500-square-foot location with an on-site kitchen, on Lexington Avenue and East 92nd Street on Thursday, Nov. 8, store owners told Patch. The Lexington Avenue supermarket is Westside Market's first venture on the Upper East Side, and store owner Jimmy Belesis said that the company "loves the area."

The new store is smaller than its other locations, but still offers all the grocery staples as well as a curated inventory that will appeal to local shoppers. The Westside Market is a supermarket brand of the Krasdale Foods distribution company.

Belesis said that the level of customer service as well as the freshness of the produce and prepared meals will make Westside Market stand out in a neighborhood that's dominated by larger stores such as Fairway, Gristedes and Whole Foods.

"[What sets us apart] is the customer service, the family feel, the prepared food that we cook in-house — we have a kitchen on the premises," Belesis said. "We thrive on customer service, our relationship with out customers.

All six Westside Market locations in Manhattan are operated by the same family, Belesis told Patch. The business decided to expand to the Upper East Side when the landlord of their West 98th Street and Broadway store offered them the space.

"We came, we saw it, we liked it — handshake," Belesis said.

Westside Market's lease at the Lexington Avenue and East 92nd Street space will run 20 years, the store owner said. In-store specials will be offered at the store on a rotating basis and the location will be open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

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