Associated is a banner of Associated Supermarket Group (ASG), with other banners including Associated Fresh, Compare, Compare Fresh, Met Foods, Met Fresh, Metropolitan City Market, and Pioneer. Both Associated and Compare banners are known to cater to multicultural demographics. Associated and all sister banner stores carry mainstream, ethnic, natural, and organic products and its private label Avenue A.
Origins and Early Growth
In 1939, several New York City grocers came together to form a purchasing group called Queens Food Dealers, which would allow them to continue operating independently while buying their goods under one entity at lower prices from the manufacturers. In 1954, the group became Associated Food Stores under founders Harry Laufer, Ira Gober, Sol Chalek, and others, at which time the cooperative was made up of 18 individually owned stores.
AFS built a new warehouse and office complex at 179-45 Brinkerhoff Avenue, in Jamaica, Queens, replete with a loading dock that was served by a stretch of railroad track, allowing them to receive rail cars full of product and store it in their new, much larger warehouse. The butcher business within most stores would be concessions, but they hired an expert to run the meat department, which distributed meat to concessions within the membership, and they were soon maintaining large amounts of grocery, dairy and candling their own private label eggs. While most of the stores were neighborhood size groceries, members began to build larger supermarkets on Long Island and other locations in the tri-state, metropolitan area.
Leadership, Bankruptcy, and Recovery
In January 1972, Eric Steinberg was elected president and chief executive officer of Associated Food Stores, Inc., with Chalek remaining as chairman of the board. In July, Associated introduced a new slogan: “The little guy is fighting back,” which was advertised extensively in newspapers and on radio at the time. By 1975, the group declared bankruptcy to reorganize its debt, and it was bought by the Maidenbaum family in the mid-1970s.
Associated and several other grocers feuded with the New York Daily News when the newspaper published a story in May 2001 that criticized the cleanliness of New York City stores, with the co-op among several others to pull advertisements from the paper.
Expansion, Acquisitions and Ownership
By 1987, the Compare Foods supermarket banner was added, further strengthening its presence in the industry. In October 2008, two executives at the Associated Supermarket at 229 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick were arrested cheating the store’s grocery baggers out of $300,000 in wages and falsifying business records that were given to state officials. The owners of two supermarkets in Bushwick, Brooklyn, agreed to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to more than 50 employees to settle charges that the stores violated state wage laws.
In March 2013, AUA Private Equity Partners, a New York-based firm, completed a recapitalization of Associated Food Holdings, with Laufer and Gober remaining under the new owners. In January 2014, Associated added the Met Foodmarkets and Pioneer Supermarkets banners to its portfolio. In September, the cooperative’s wholesaler, Associated Wholesalers, Inc., declared bankruptcy and was sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers. That month, Bob A. Sigel was named president of Associated Food Stores to replace the retiring Laufer. By November, Associated had signed on with C&S as its primary supplier.
In 2015, Associated Food Stores officially became Associated Supermarket Group (ASG). In January 2018, Joe Garcia was named chief executive. In 2017, ASG introduced its Avenue A private label with more than 500 products.
In January 2021, AUA sold Associated Supermarket Group to ASG’s senior management, led by CEO Joe Garcia and executive vice president Zulema Wiscovitch, who were named co-president and co-CEO following the sale.
Stores and Regional Footprint
Associated Supermarket Group provides retail solutions to independently owned grocery stores in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region, providing distribution, marketing, merchandising, promotional services, and store financing. The company has stores on Long Island, in Upstate New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Associated and Associated Fresh stores serve communities across New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island, and the greater tri-state area, offering a wide selection of grocery and ethnic products at competitive prices.
C&S Wholesale Grocers remains the primary grocery supplier to ASG’s stores. ASG maintains partnerships with Porky Products, Nebraskaland, and R-Best Produce, among others. Associated is a banner of Associated Supermarket Group, with other banners including Associated Fresh, Compare, Compare Fresh, Met Foods, Met Fresh, Metropolitan City Market, and Pioneer.
Merchandising and Own-Brand Products
Avenue A includes more than 250 products from frozen foods to dried grocery goods to paper goods, among other pantry essentials that provide national brand quality at a value price, capturing the bustling, welcoming, tolerant spirit of diverse neighborhoods. Avenue A is a brand designed to embody the vibrancy and diversity of the communities it serves, with products manufactured exclusively for Associated Supermarket Group.
Compare Foods and Compare Fresh have locations in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, and North Carolina, offering a wide selection of Hispanic and ethnic food products, fresh produce, quality meats, and mainstream essentials. Met Foodmarkets have provided quality food and variety to communities across New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey for over 45 years, with Met Fresh delivering expanded produce and perimeter services alongside traditional assortments for health-conscious consumers.
Employment and Labor Relations
Two owners of an Associated Supermarket at 229 Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn pleaded guilty to failure to pay wages and failure to maintain payroll records, both misdemeanors. At both supermarkets involved in the settlement, baggers had been paid no wages at all and had to rely solely on tips for income, while delivery workers often worked 70-hour weeks but were not paid minimum wage or compensated for overtime, and many other supermarket employees had worked in excess of 40 hours a week but were not paid overtime wages.
Later Developments and Direction
In March 2026, the grand opening of Antillana Superfoods on Melrose Avenue was celebrated, featuring a vibrant produce department, well-stocked deli, and top-quality butcher shop, along with a wide range of international and specialty products highlighting the cultural richness of the area. In April 2026, ASG welcomed two new independent supermarkets when Met Fresh on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene celebrated its opening, delivering fresh produce, everyday essentials, and a modern shopping experience to a neighborhood that hadn’t seen a contemporary supermarket in years. Along White Plains Road in the Bronx, Shop Fresh Food opened its fifth location, bringing culturally relevant products, competitive pricing, and fresh offerings tailored to the Wakefield and Eastchester communities.
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