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Business & Tech

Sahadi's Expansion To Begin After 10 Years

One store, three storefronts

Imagine with an additional 2,500 square feet. That dream will soon be a reality.

The ever-popular and ever-crowded specialty food shop on Atlantic Avenue is expanding. The market -- bursting at the seams within its current two storefronts -- will grow into the adjacent storefront, at 189 Atlantic Ave. With the expansion there will be more space for customers, but also more products.

Currently, when a new item is added to the shelves, another one is taken off. But with the planned addition of space, there will be an even larger variety of Middle Eastern goods and gourmet food items offered. Although most of the specifics have yet to be determined, Sahadi's hope to enlarge and improve both the cheese and bread departments as well as add a demo station for the sampling of new items.

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“We’re part of a lot of people’s lives and we’re very proud of that," said Charlie Sahadi. "What we’re doing is to make it nicer so that more people can enjoy it.”

The new space is already used by Sahadi's, but only for UPS shipments and gift basket making. It is also the home of Sahadi’s holiday market.

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Sahadi’s is currently separated from the space next-door by a courtyard housing the compressors for their refrigeration. The plan is to renovate this outdoor area (adding ceiling and flooring) and use it to connect the two spaces.

The expansion was originally scheduled for 1999. Approval had gone through on the renovations, and everything necessary was in place for construction to begin, said Sahadi. However, the plan for a bigger store had to be put on hold when they purchased a warehouse in Sunset Park. It was too big of a job for the business to take on both expansions at the same time.

It is only now, over ten years later, that Sahadi’s is once again going through the process to regain approval for the addition of a third storefront.

“It had always been in the back of our mind to revisit this project when we completed the warehouse,” said Christine Whalen, who is in charge of the expansion. “The neighborhood is growing with lots of people as well as families moving into all of this new construction in the area. It just felt like the right time for this job.”

Although Sahadi has been running the store for the past 47 years, it is his two children, Whalen and Ron Sahadi, who are spearheading the addition of a third storefront.

“I’m going to let the kids make the big decisions,” said Sahadi. “I don’t mind throwing my two cents in, but I don’t want to throw a quarter in. I want the store to be what they want it to be.”

And what Whalen and the junior Sahadi want is to please the customer. When considering what to improve upon with the addition of the new space, Whalen said they asked their customers what they wanted to see, and are planning to expand their product mix to accommodate those requests.

There's no need to be concerned about being able to swing by the store during the expansion. If you get an itch for Middle Eastern specialty food or bargain bulk nut prices, have no fear. Sahadi said that in all likelihood the renovations won’t require the store to close. When they expanded from one storefront to two in 1985, they were only closed for one hour.

“The customers don’t like to be interrupted,” he said.

As for plans beyond the upcoming expansion, there doesn’t seem to be anything extreme in the works.

“Looking toward the future, we would like to grow within our market, sourcing even more unique, well-made foods and sharing them with our customers," said Whalen.

Although there are a few hurdles left before construction can begin, Sahadi is hopeful that the new space will be open by early next year.

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