Western Beef is a low-cost supermarket chain located mostly in the New York City metropolitan area. As of 2010, it operated 21 stores in the city and suburbs. A store was opened in Boca Raton, Florida in March 2009. A store in Pembroke Pines, Florida was opened in 2011.
Western Beef's business model has been to operate in ethnically diverse, inner city neighborhoods that have been abandoned by other supermarket chains. Their store on West 14th Street, now closed, was located at the north end of the Meatpacking District, then a "derelict area clogged by trucks in the daytime and prostitutes at night". Its motto is "We know the neighborhood". Its logo is the words "Western Beef" with a cactus wearing a cowboy hat in place of the "t" in "Western".
The company also operates five Junior's Food Outlet stores: four in Brooklyn, and one in Queens.
Western Beef has several store brands, including the Western Beef Brand, Western Selects (orange juice), and Cactus Club.
History
Western Beef ad, 1986 - Spot touting the weekly specials at "the meat supermarket".
At the time of its expansion in 1989, the company seemed to be thriving. However, in 1996, Western Beef executives revealed that their business had been adversely affected by supposed ties with the Mafia. The proprietor, Peter Castellana, Jr., admitted that he had dismissed his father from the firm because of the latter's association with organized crime. Having overcome the commercial problems, Castellana, Jr, and his brothers stated that they preferred to run the business cleanly and legally. Castellana, Jr, was quoted as saying, "I'm not in the Mafia, so I don't get any of the benefits of being in the Mafia, but everybody thinks badly of me because they think I'm in the Mafia anyway."
During the 2000s, Western Beef moved out of its traditional home in the meatpacking district, when its premises were sold because of changes in the neighborhood demographic.
References
External links
- Official website
