Peekskill Green Grocers, Peekskill
Photo credit: Neal Rentz
Beacon resident Alex Davashi had previously owned a Key Food store in Mahopac but lost his lease in mid-May.
At the end of May, he opened his new food store, Peekskill Green Grocers, to replace a closed Key Food store. “It’s an opportunity,” he said last week.
Davashi said he brought to Peekskill the employees who worked for him at his previous supermarket. “This one was (also) a Key Food, but for whatever reason it just wasn’t doing so well,” he said.
The shopping area where the new store is located is being renovated, Davashi said. “We’re hoping this area will become a little more active and attractive,” he said.
The idea for the name Green Grocers came from a suggestion from his attorney. “In the old days they used to call most of their (food) stores grocers,” he explained. “Green is just a symbol for produce and healthy. I’m trying to see if my customers are buying organic and natural and it’s time to cater a little bit to them.”
The roughly 15,000-square-foot store offers more natural and organic items than the previous supermarket at the site did, Davashi said.
Davashi said his store features a large produce section with products purchased from CNS warehouses in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Water and produce have been his customers’ most popular items, Davashi noted.
Davashi said most of his customers either live or work in the Peekskill area. He has been working in the grocery business for nearly 20 years.
“It’s a family business,” he said. “My dad (Musleh) was doing it for a long time and I grew up into it.”
The first store the Davashi family owned was a mom and pop bodega in California. In 2008, the family and their partner purchased a Key Food store in Beacon. Five years later, the family purchased the Mahopac store.
“We’re hoping that this store will turn around,” Davashi said, adding he may purchase more supermarkets in the future.
Davashi said he has straightforward goals for his new business. “My goal, of course, is to grow the business and stay here and to make sure that this store becomes a neighborhood store,” he said.
Peekskill Green Grocers is located at 20 Welcher Ave. For more information, call 914-402-2317 or visit the store’s Facebook page.
