By Rebecca Henely
A private company will be opening a 10,000-square-foot supermarket in Corona and expanding another supermarket in Jackson Heights under a city initiative to bring healthy food choices to underserved neighborhoods.
Bogopa Service Corp., a New York-based company which operates supermarkets under the names “Food Bazaar” and “Food Dimensions” in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, New Jersey and Connecticut, received $450,000 from the city to help create about 245,000 square feet of supermarket space in the three boroughs it serves.
The money comes from the city’s FRESH program, an acronym for Food Retail Expansion to Support Health, which gives exemptions to developers planning to build supermarkets in areas designated by the city as underserved.
The city Industrial Development Agency, a part of the city Economic Development Corp., said 82 jobs will be created by this expansion. Bogopa already employs 449 people.
“Today’s FRESH approval is a significant step forward in our mission to provide healthy food options to all New Yorkers,” IDA Chairman Seth Pinsky said in a statement.
Most of the Queens area designated as in need of healthy food options is in South Jamaica, but a part of Corona is also eligible for incentives. Bogopa, which in 1988 opened its first store ever in LeFrak City, will be receiving funds from a sales tax exemption that will get rid of the 8.875 percent sales tax on construction and renovation materials the company will buy to expand or build new markets.
“These much-needed markets will provide more options for comparison shopping, help keep prices down and create new jobs,” Borough President Helen Marshall said in a statement.
Bogopa will be expanding its Food Bazaar, at 34-20 Junction Blvd. in Jackson Heights, by 4,000 square feet, creating an 18,000-square-foot store and will build a 10,000-square-foot supermarket in Corona at 57-08 99th St. It will also be expanding three supermarkets in Brooklyn and one supermarket in the Bronx.
“This announcement is a win-win-win for these six neighborhoods — good jobs, good food and healthier communities,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) said in a statement.
Bogopa’s website said the company is dedicated to serving minority and immigrant populations. Its founder, Francis An, is a Korean-born immigrant who once lived in Argentina and said he was unable to find food to make his favorite Argentine dishes once he moved to New York.
“We want to be your first and only choice for ethnic products we call ‘food from home,’” the company said in its mission statement. “We are here for you.”
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
