Courtesy Ron Bacon
By Rod Bacon
After being without one for 20 years, Whitehall now has a full-service retail supermarket.
Whitehall Market opened at the end of May, providing customers with a wide variety of food, beverage, and household items.
Selections include open-case meats, fruits and vegetables, breakfast foods, condiments, soft drinks, and cleaning and paper products. Refrigerated cases hold milk and juices, prepared meals, lunch meats, and dessert items. There is a full-service deli serving hot and cold sandwiches, pasta salads, and fish selections.
The owner/manager is Muhammad Bilal, who has owned Green Mountain Food Services in Whitehall since 2019. It was incorporated in 1979 as a wholesale food company that delivers refrigerated, frozen and dry goods throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts and Upstate New York. In 2005 it was opened to the general public.
“The warehouse is ninety percent bulk items,” Bilal said. “We have a very limited number of items for the retail customer. The Whitehall Market is a proper grocery store.”
He noted that there is one aisle of the more popular bulk items so customers who want larger quantities of some items don’t have to visit two locations.
While grocery stores in New York State can sell beer, cider, and low-ABV wine products, Bilal has elected not to do so.
The market is located at 192 Broadway in a building that once housed the Upstate Discount Warehouse. Bilal purchased it and contracted with Chris Adams Construction and Spray Foam Insulation of Fair Haven, Vt., for extensive renovations to the 7,600-square-foot building. Krueger Electrical of Glens Falls upgraded the electrical service.
In addition to Bilal there are six employees.
According to Whitehall Chamber of Commerce President Cheryl Putorti, the new market is a definite asset to the community. She noted that the town has been without a grocery store for many years and it is too small to support one from the large chains.
“We do have a lot of older folks in the area and some low-income people who might not have cars, so having this market right in the middle of the village is a big benefit to everybody,” she said.
She added that the business is having a soft opening now but there is a chamber-hosted ribbon cutting planned when they are fully up and running.
Bilal said he is very gratified by the positive response from the community, and would consider opening retail supermarkets in other underserved communities if the opportunities arose.
For further information about the Whitehall Market, search for Whitehall Market Facebook Profile on Google.