May 17, 2012Tops Celebrates Re-Open of Quality Locations
Mayor Sam Teresi (far left) helps cut the ribbon on the Tops Grand Re-opening in the former Quality Markets location in the Foote Avenue Plaza. Steve Peroski, store manager (middle), and Tops President and CEO Frank Cursi do the honors of snipping the ribbon.
New Face, Same Place
by Dennis Phillips
Courtesy the Post-Journal
The grocery store in the Foote Avenue Plaza has been open for more than 50 years, previously being known as Loblaws and Quality Markets, but it will now be known as Tops Friendly Markets.
Tops officials held a grand-opening celebration for its new location in the Foote Avenue Plaza as part of a tour of 15 new stores officially re-opening under the Tops brand banner in New York and Pennsylvania on Tuesday. In Chautauqua County, the new Tops-branded stores include six former Quality Markets stores in Falconer, Frewsburg, Jamestown, Mayville, Silver Creek and Westfield.
The celebration included the Jamestown High School Madrigal Singers, under the direction of Norm Lydell; Mayor Sam Teresi; Steve Peroski, Tops store manager; and Frank Curci, Tops president and chief executive officer. Ceremonies featured the announcement of capital improvements planned for each store as part of an overall two-year $90 million company-wide capital investment program.
Peroski said there will be new deli, meat, floral, bakery and seafood departments, along with more natural and organic food selections and a new Tim Hortons self-serve kiosks. Peroski said customers will continue to see changes in the store for about another month as new interior and exterior remolding is done to add new decoration, food cases, flooring and lighting.
''(The changes) are very exciting for our store and for our customers,'' he said.
The supermarket chain also donated $500 to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Boys & Girls Club, St. Susan Center and Lighthouse Baptist Church as part of the company's ''Living Here. Giving Here.'' community partnership program.
''Tops is committed to our community,'' Peroski said.
Curci said the company is driven to give customers more options and selections for a better trip to the market.
''The entire Tops team has worked very hard to ensure our new store customers will have a more enjoyable shopping experience as they see the many changes in the setting, amenities, friendly service and promotional grocery items that our neighborhood stores will offer,'' he said. ''And we want to be active members of the local community.''
Teresi thanked Tops officials for keeping the longstanding grocery market open and told the story of how his first job was working at the business as a teenager.
''You truly are 'Tops,''' Teresi said to the several company officials on hand for the celebration.
The other stores and communities that held grand re-openings included former Quality Markets in Williamsville, Attica, Ellicottville and Randolph in New York state and Erie, Waterford, Union City and Meadville in Pennsylvania. One former P&C store in Elmira also celebrated a grand re-opening.
The Quality Markets and P&C stores were part of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court-approved acquisition of a majority of Penn Traffic's assets by Tops that was completed on Jan. 29. The name change of the stores to Tops Friendly Markets was included in a rebranding effort announced in early May in which former stores owned by Penn Traffic - Quality Markets, P&C and BiLo - would be changed to Tops by the end of 2010.
For more pictures of the event, please visit the photo album.