By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Inwood is a neighborhood on high alert for signs of gentrification — welcome or not — so when local grocery store La Antillana appeared to rename itself “Market Fresh” in a supermarket circular, residents took notice.
“Interesting way of rebranding a familiar neighborhood chain to something more… downtown friendly,” wrote Zaida Grunes on her neighborhood blog Manhattan’s Peak.
Jose Grullon, the Dominican owner of La Antillana (a word referring to people from Caribbean countries including the Dominican Republic), owns two markets by the same name in Inwood — one on Broadway and 216th Street and the other on Nagle Avenue and Ellwood Street.
He admitted that he does tailor his stores to the differing needs and requests from each location.
“It all depends on the people who live in the neighborhood and want,” he said, explaining that at the Broadway store he offers more organic items and hired a new manager who has ideas that he said are more in line with the needs of the people nearby.
But he insisted that the renaming was not a marketing ploy. He explained that a new partnership with distributor Crest Foods allows him to give shoppers the same deals as big chain stores like C-Town, but in return he has to use their “Market Fresh” brand on marketing collateral — including, eventually, his store’s awning.
“I haven’t forgotten my roots,” insisted Grullon. “I still have all of my Hispanic and Dominican products and we’ve made sure to leave those prices down. That’s one of the benefits of having multiple stores. You can offer cheaper prices.”
A low price point is ultimately what most shoppers at La Antillana said matter to them.
Falconivis Tejeda, 31, whose cart was filled with non-organic tomatoes, peppers and limes, normally shops at the large chain supermarkets closer to her apartment in Washington Heights, but was drawn in by the store’s low prices, including the ones she saw on the above-mentioned circular.
“I’ll be coming back to shop here," she said, "because the prices are so good.”
