| Type | Specialty Gourmet |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1916 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. 1946 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Founder(s) | Louis Balducci |
| Headquarters | Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Area served | Connecticut, New York Maryland, Virginia |
| Key people | Judy Spires (CEO), Fred Brohm (Executive VP of Merchandising/Marketing), Rich Durante (SR. VP of Operations), Michael Bruno (Sr. VP Human Resources, Patrick Dentato (Sr. VP & CFO) |
| Products | Specialty Gourmet |
| Parent | Kings Super Markets |
| Website | balduccis.com |
Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market is a specialty gourmet food retailer in the United States with six grocery stores.[1] The company headquarters is in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Contents |
Balducci's was the first company in New York City to sell premium quality foods with a butcher, fishmonger, delicatessen and greengrocer all in the same store.[2] It became a model for specialty markets all over the city.[2][3]
In 1999, Balducci Enterprises became a subsidiary of Sutton Place Gourmet, a Maryland based company.[4] Sales for the combined company were more than $130 million per year.[4]
The flagship store in Greenwich Village closed earlier in the year (Jan 2003).[5] In November 2003, the company was purchased by an investment group led by Bear Stearns Merchant Banking.
The new flagship store on Eighth Avenue at 14th Street in Manhattan opened in December 2005.[6] Following its opening, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union began protesting outside the store against the non-unionized status of employees.[7]
"Right now we are restructuring our company," said Jennifer Barton, Marketing Director with Balducci's LLC. "We had to close some of our under-performing stores."
There are currently six full-service retail stores in Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and New York (Scarsdale). There are four Balducci's Express locations: three in JFK Airport in New York and one at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets in Virginia.[1]
In April 2009 Balducci's was sold to Angelo, Gordon and Co. Investment Firm under the leadership of then CEO Bruce Weitz of Kings Super Markets. The current CEO is Judy Spires.
In the popular television sitcom, Will and Grace, the character Will Truman regularly visited the original Greenwich Village store in New York before it was closed in 2003.
In a scene from the movie Fatso, the character Dominick Anthony "Dom" DiNapoli, played by actor Dom DeLuise, visits a weight-loss clinic with a bag of groceries from Balducci's.
In a scene of the film the 25th Hour, Montgomery "Monty" Brogan (Edward Norton)mention Balducci's in his soliloquy in front of the mirror