Whole Foods to open in Commack this spring

Whole Foods Market will celebrate the grand opening of its new location in Commack on Wednesday, April 3, the company has announced. It is the grocery chain’s fourth store on Long Island.

The new 43,000-square-foot supermarket fills the vacancy in Kimco Realty’s Veterans Memorial Plaza that was left when King Kullen closed in March 2017. Whole Foods says it will employ about 200 people.

Employees at the Commack grand opening will be giving out free coffee and breakfast pastries to customers starting at 8 a.m. The first 200 customers to arrive will get a reusable canvas shopping bag.

On Wednesday, April 10, the company plans to donate 5 percent of the store’s net sales to the Association for Mental Health and Awareness to support the group’s Chemical Free Garden in Ronkonkoma. The garden produces herbs, fruits and vegetables for Charlotte’s Table, a Ronkonkoma-based food pantry.

The following week, on Thursday, April 18, another 5 percent of the store’s net sales will be donated to Family Service League, the Huntington-based social services agency that has grown to have more than 20 locations across Long Island.

Whole Foods says the store will stock products from a variety of local suppliers, including a selection of craft beers. It also has plans to open a fast-casual eatery inside the store, which will serve food made with local ingredients and offer different wines and microbrews on tap.

The company has three more locations currently planned for Long Island, including one in Garden City that is slated to anchor a new shopping center being built on a converted industrial property.

Tom Pira, senior director of real estate for Kimco, told The Long Island Times that the center has been attracting interest from lots of national retailers looking to come to Commack.

“The opening of Whole Foods will be a much-anticipated event for this community, and a great traffic generator for the shopping center,” Pira said in an email.

Kimco has more stores opening there later this year as well, which Pira attributes to the center’s Commack location.

“With the recent opening of Hobby Lobby, plus the fall 2019 anticipated openings of Burlington and Five Below, the high level of retailer interest in Veterans Memorial Plaza is a testament to the quality of this location and the strength of the market,” he added.

Whole Foods in Commack will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.