Legislator Anker joins employees from the Miller Place Stop & Shop as she distributes COVID-19 at-home test kits.
Legislator Anker joins Legislator Bridget Fleming, employees from the Rocky Point Stop & Shop and Local 338 Union Representative Fred Wen as they distribute COVID-19 at-home test kits.
Legislator Anker joins employees form the Middle Island King Kullen as she distributes COVID-19 at-home test kits.
Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker visited three local supermarket stores in March to distribute COVID-19 at-home test kits to their employees. She met with managers and employees of the Stop and Shops in Rocky Point and Miller Place, as well as the King Kullen in Middle Island, where she distributed over 700 test kits between the three stores.
This effort follows Legislator Anker’s recent Drive-Thru Test Kit Distribution event which was open to all residents, as well as the dissemination of boxes of test kit to the various senior communities and day care centers in the area.
“I want to thank the essential workers of our local supermarkets, who worked tirelessly throughout the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is my hope that these COVID-19 test-kits will help to keep the stores’ workers and patrons safe and healthy as we start to work our way back to a sense of normalcy,” said Legislator Anker.
“I also want to express my appreciation for our Local Unions 338 and 1500, who represent the workers of Stop and Shop and King Kullen. Through these challenging times, our local unions have continued to dedicate themselves to ensuring workers and their families are protected and supported,” she said.
Allergy Free Sugar Cookies. Photo from Stop & Shop
Allergy Friendly Sugar Cookies
Are you looking for the perfect holiday cookie recipe that can be made allergy free? Look no further than these delicious allergy friendly sugar cookies, courtesy of Stop & Shop!
In large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat buttery sticks and granulated sugar 3 minutes or until fluffy, scraping down bowl occasionally. Add 3 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract; beat 2 minutes or until incorporated, scraping down bowl occasionally. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt; beat 1 minute or until just incorporated.
Transfer dough to work surface; divide into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece to 1/4-inch thick between 2 sheets parchment paper; stack dough on rimmed baking pan and freeze 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°; line 3 rimmed baking pans with parchment paper. Place chilled dough on work surface; remove parchment paper. With winter-themed cookie cutters, carefully cut out cookies; transfer cookies to 2 prepared pans, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies 10 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned, rotating pans halfway through baking; cool cookies on pans 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Gather dough scraps, roll out between 2 sheets parchment paper and freeze 30 minutes; cut out and bake cookies on remaining prepared pan as directed above. Makes about 36 cookies.
In medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar, cream of tartar and remaining 2 tablespoons milk. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
Divide icing into smaller bowls; add color gels to create desired colors. Transfer icing to piping bags with small round tips.
In small microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips in microwave oven on high 1 minute or until melted, stirring every 20 seconds; stir in oil. Transfer chocolate mixture to piping bag; snip tip of piping bag with kitchen scissors to make small hole.
Decorate cookies with desired icing colors, chocolate and sprinkles, if desired; let dry at room temperature 6 hours or up to overnight. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Island Harvest Food Bank, a leading Long Island hunger-relief organization, received $96,500 from Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign on June 24. According to Randi Shubin Dresner, president & CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank, funding received from the Food for Friends initiative will be used to hire a part-time, bi-lingual dietician to promote healthy eating habits among underserved populations in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Funding will also support Island Harvest Food Bank’s food collection and distribution programs.
Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign raised more than $2 million for its 12 regional food bank partners, breaking all previous years’ donation records. Throughout May 2021, customers were able to give at checkout knowing that donation would stay local and fight hunger in their communities. 100% of the money raised went to Stop & Shop’s regional food banks in its service areas. Customers were also able to donate non-perishable food items at marked donation bins at each Stop & Shop store to benefit local hunger relief organizations, like Island Harvest.
“Stop & Shop is a longtime and valued partner in our mission to provide essential food assistance and promote positive health outcomes of the people we serve,” said Ms. Shubin Dresner. “We appreciate their ongoing support and generosity and thank their customers for their caring, too.”
“Stop & Shop’s Food for Friends campaign is symbolic of our relationship with Island Harvest,” said Stefanie Shuman, Community Relations Manager for Stop & Shop. “We couldn’t ask for a better friend and partner in the fight against hunger on Long Island.”
Members of the Miller Place Fire Department and other community volunteers successfully packed a department bus full of food and other supplies for the St. Louis de Montfort church’s food pantry. Photo by Kyle Barr
Though students now aren’t meant to sit too close on the bus, the Miller Place Fire Department, for the 10th year in a row, is using every inch of space in a bus that bears its own logo.
Members of the Miller Place Fire Department and other community volunteers successfully packed a department bus full of food and other supplies for the St. Louis de Montfort church’s food pantry. Photo by Kyle Barr
MPFD’s 10th annual Stuff-a-Bus event managed to fill every seat in their red-and-white bus to the brim with food and other essential items donated by the community. All food was delivered to the St. Louis de Montfort R.C. Church in Sound Beach for its food pantry.
Items were donated by fire department members and the surrounding community at the annual Stuff-a-Bus event held at the Miller Place Stop & Shop Nov. 20, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to the donated items, Miller Place EMS Capt. Rob Chmiel, who headed the event, said they received nearly $1,000 in cash and gift card donations. The cash was used to purchase items the department was short of, and the gift cards were given directly to the food pantry staff, so they could use them to address their needs in the future.
Though normally the fire department holds its donation drive over two days, on the night of this year’s event, Chmiel said that they were receiving an incredible amount of donations, more than they usually do. They even received a car full of groceries by a volunteer at 4 p.m. By around 5:30 p.m., just two hours into the six-hour event, they had filled half the bus through several dozen residents donating a few boxes, cartons or jars at a time. By the end that same bus was packed to the seams.
“We set out to make this the biggest year we possibly could, given the pandemic and everybody being stuck at home for most of the year,” Chmiel said. “We broke every record we possibly could.”
Elaine Bender, outreach director for St. Louis de Montfort Church, said the department did a “fabulous job” as they got way more than initially expected. The gift cards are also a big help as those are needed to help needy people purchase big ticket Thanksgiving items like turkeys.
The late afternoon-evening event was a large-scale operation, with a score of department volunteers bringing food to the bus and loading it up as music rang out over the crowded lot on the Friday before Thanksgiving. Other fire department volunteers stood by the doors to the supermarket asking local residents for donations.
“There’s a lot of hungry people right now,” volunteer Lori Aliano said.
Since the pandemic’s start, Bender said the church has seen an increase in the overall number of clients they help. She added she expects there could be an increase in need should there be another statewide shutdown in the near future.
Chmiel thanked Marchand’s School of Dance for their yearly donations and Stop & Shop of Miller Place for allowing them to host the drive.
St. Louis de Montfort Church also hosts a drive for Christmas and will be accepting gift cards from any shop that sells toys supplies and/or clothing. Donations can be dropped off at the church located at 75 New York Ave. in Sound Beach.
Tammie Smith, Stop & Shop’s Long Island Regional Director (left) join Randi Shubin Dresner, President and CEO of Island Harvest; and Peter Braglia, Chief Operations Officer of Long Island Cares for a photo at the Stop & Shop in Smithtown with the donated turkeys. Photo courtesy of Stop & Shop
Stop & Shop’s Turkey Express program donated 1,000 Thanksgiving Turkeys each to Island Harvest Food Bank and to Long Island Cares Inc., The Harry Chapin Food Bank, on Nov. 12, surpassing its goal of delivering more than 21,500 turkeys to hunger relief organizations in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island this holiday season.
Island Harvest has seen an overall increase of 47% of food distributed throughout Long Island this year and has helped more than 300,000 families since March.
Long Island Cares Inc. has reported a 43.1% increase in food insecurity vs.pre-COVID and has assisted over 172,000 Long Islanders since March.
The King Kullen in St. James. File photo by Phil Corso
Stop & Shop’s long-pending acquisition of King Kullen is no more. The announcement was made on June 10.
The two chains, along with Stop & Shop parent Ahold Delhaize USA, said they have mutually decided to terminate the deal because of “significant, unforeseen changes in the marketplace that have emerged since the agreement was signed in December 2018, largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Both companies have put forth an incredible amount of effort to work through unanticipated challenges that have arisen, and we regret that we’re not able to move forward,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement.
“King Kullen has a strong legacy on the island, and we wish them continued success. Stop & Shop remains committed to the Long Island community, to serving our customers in the market well, and to investing in our associates and our stores in Nassau and Suffolk counties,” he said.
At the time of the acquisition deal, there were 32 King Kullen supermarkets, but three underperforming locations were closed last year including Mount Sinai on June 20 and Ronkonkoma on Aug. 22. The remaining supermarkets include St. James, Huntington, Wading River, Middle Island and Manorville. The company also has five Wild by Nature stores on Long Island including Setauket and Huntington.
“We look forward to continuing to focus on what we do best: serving our great customers across Long Island and supporting our hard-working store associates,” said Brian Cullen, co-president of King Kullen. “We are enthusiastic about the future and well-positioned to serve Nassau and Suffolk counties for many years to come. In short, we are here for the long term.”
An empty toilet paper display case at the St. James King Kullen March 14. Photo by Joseph Cali
With shelves emptying quicker than they can replenish, as shoppers afraid of possible COVID-19 quarantines stock up, grocery store chains are trying to come up with answers.
In a press release, King Kullen announced starting Monday, March 16, all its stores, including its pharmacies and Wild by Nature locations will open at 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
The chain said the new hours of operation were until further notice, and the change would allow them “to better serve its customers, provide relief to employees, give store teams time to conduct additional preventative sanitation, and allow more efficient restocking of product on shelves.”
Stop & Shop starting Thursday, March 19, will allow those who are over 60 years old to buy groceries at their stores from 6 to 7:30 a.m., according to a March 16 press release.
“Although we will not be requesting ID for entry, we ask that you please respect the purpose of the early opening — and do the right thing for your neighbors,” the statement read. “Store associates do reserve the right to ask customers to leave if they are not a member of this age group.”
Stop & Shop also announced most stores have adjusted their hours to 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. which will help with unloading deliveries and stocking shelves.
The chain also announced that its Peapod home delivery service will have a contact-free option where bags can be left on a doorstep or entryway.
Marty, the tall, googly-eyed robot that roams Stop & Shop stores searching for spills and potential hazards is turning 1. To celebrate, select Stop & Shop stores on Long Island will throw Marty a 1st birthday party on Saturday, January 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. complete with birthday cake, crafts for kids and giveaways.
Marty the robot is used to identify hazards and spills on the floor, allowing associates to focus on customers. When the robot detects a potential hazard on the floor, he notifies store associates who take corrective action.
Some fun facts about Marty on his first birthday:
Marty is from Kentucky and was created by Badger Technologies
Marty speaks both English and Spanish
On average, Marty spots 40 spills and potential hazards at each store every day
Marty has more than 300 cousins who also live at Stop & Shop stores across the company’s five state footprint
Marty’s favorite dance move is the robot (naturally)
Participating locations in our neck of the woods are:
Josephine Gruposso recently competed in a New York State bagging championship. Here she stands at the Northport Stop & Shop. Photo by Kyle Barr
What goes into bagging items in the grocery store?
It’s not a thought held by the hundreds who check out their groceries in local supermarkets every hour of every day. For Josephine Gruposso of Port Jefferson Station, it is a matter of deftness, intelligence and speed.
Josephine Gruposso recently competed in a New York State bagging championship. Here she stands at the Northport Stop & Shop. Photo by Kyle Barr
“I think it’s fun — some people might think it’s silly,” Gruposso said. “But when you work in a supermarket, with silly little things like this, I feel like bagging makes my time go quicker. It’s an amazing way to interact with your customers, an amazing way to interact with your employees.”
Just this last weekend Gruposso, 36, traveled upstate to participate in the 2019 New York State Best Bagger Finals at the Stop & Shop in Poughkeepsie. She, along with her Poughkeepsie-based teammate Joanne Chapman, huddled over shopping bags Sept. 21 to see who could stack and fill the fastest and neatest.
First, New York grocery stores held competitions in “heats” with multiple baggers competing against each other at a time. Each store sends two employees, and the Port Jeff Station resident was chosen for Stop & Shop.
Gruposso has been working with the supermarket chain since 2008 and has only recently started training as a customer service manager. She said she started to become interested in bagging skills when she worked the register many years ago in a store in Rhode Island. She first heard of the competition there, and though she only got to the second round in that state’s competition, she found the experience fun.
“I made it a game — and when we got really busy, I said: Okay I’ll put my timer here and we’re going to see how fast we can bag this.”
Gruposso said she has developed a bagging method that generally allows her to bag $20 worth of merchandise in under a minute, and a $100 order in one to two minutes. First, she separates the products, then places boxes around the sides of the bag to straighten and provide structure, then lays cans and bottles in the middle, which gives the packed bag balance and ensures the sides don’t tear.
“I made it a game with my cashiers, so at the same time I was practicing,” she said. “I would see how fast each customer would take me.”
She competed among 16 other contestants from stores around New York, including Stop & Shop, D’Agostino Supermarket, Gristedes, Hanaford, Price Chopper, PSK Supermarket, ShopRite and Tops Market. Those who win have the chance to travel to San Diego for the National Best Bagger Champion at the National Grocers Association annual convention.
Yes, there is a national competition, and there is a cash prize of $10,000.
The competition has gone on since 1983, when the American Paper Institute sponsored the first competition. Moving on since then, and with plastic bag laws across the state, the competition has switched to reusable bags.
The competition went well, she said, and while she didn’t win, she said she had fun watching others use different rapid bagging techniques.
King Kullen at 153 Ronkonkoma Ave., Lake Ronkonkoma is slated to close — months after Stop & Shop purchased the Long Island-based supermarket chain. When reached by phone, an employee confirmed that Thursday, Aug. 22, was the store’s last day. The announcement comesexactly two months after the Mount Sinai location shuttered its doors.
“These stores were underperforming and the decision was made to close rather than renew leases that were coming due,” spokesperson Lloyd Singer said. All current employees are expected to be reassigned so no layoffs are anticipated.
Stop & Shop acquired 32 King Kullen locations across Long Island and five Wild by Nature stores in January. Remaining Suffolk County locations include Bay Shore, Blue Point, Center Moriches, Cutchogue, Eastport, Huntington, Hampton Bays, Huntington Station, Lindenhurst, Manorville, Middle Island, North Patchogue, St. James and Wading River.
