A 17,000-square-foot supermarket has opened at 159 Main St. in Hempstead, giving the northern end of the village a grocery option that residents say has been missing for years. Compare Fresh, owned and operated by José Luis and Lisset Ureña, now anchors the ground floor of a mixed-use development that also includes housing above the store.
According to Long Island Business News, the store is the third Compare Fresh supermarket on Long Island, following the Brentwood location the Ureñas opened earlier and another location in Wyandanch. The new Hempstead location employs 52 full- and part-time workers, according to Newsday, which also reported the store sits within a 228-unit apartment complex featuring studio, one- and two-bedroom units alongside 22,600 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The Ureñas are no strangers to opening groceries in underserved corners of Long Island. In 2022, they launched a Compare Foods supermarket in Brentwood, per Abasto, which also detailed what shoppers will find inside the new Hempstead store: fresh produce, a full-service deli, seafood and meat departments, a juice bar, an in-house bakery, prepared foods, and sushi chefs making rolls on site.
Filling a Gap on Northern Main Street
Grocery access on this stretch of Hempstead has lagged for years. The store's owner told Newsday that “the north part of Main Street has for years been underserved grocery-wise, healthy food-wise,” pointing to a gap the new supermarket is meant to close. CBS News New York covered the grand opening, with correspondent Jennifer McLogan finding grocery shoppers expressing gratitude to the store's new owner as the supermarket opened.
Village officials have cast the opening as part of a broader push. Hempstead officials have sought to attract businesses and investment to expand neighborhood services as part of downtown revitalization, the station's report noted, and the supermarket fits into a wider pattern of public investment in the area. New York state has separately announced $10 million in revitalization aid for Hempstead Village, according to CBS News.
Conflicting Price Tags on the Larger Project
The total cost of the development that now houses Compare Fresh is unclear, with two outlets offering different figures. Long Island Business News reported the supermarket anchors the retail portion of a $122 million mixed-use development known as Carman Place, while Newsday described the overall 159 Main project as a $155 million undertaking. Newsday additionally reported that the project received more than $136 million in county, state and federal financial incentives, according to its developer.
Part of a Shifting Grocery Landscape
The Compare Fresh opening comes amid broader change in Long Island's grocery sector. Newsday has reported that the regional grocery landscape has been shifting, with more discount and specialty stores opening even as some traditional supermarkets shut down. Hempstead Village has already seen one such addition this year: Golden Farms Supermarket opened at 210 Henry St. on March 20, per the same Newsday account, selling mainstream American products alongside foods popular with Caribbean, Mexican, and Central and South American shoppers.
Together, the two openings suggest a village working to rebuild grocery access block by block rather than through a single large project. For now, Compare Fresh gives residents on the northern end of Main Street a nearby option for fresh produce, seafood, and prepared meals that had been harder to find in that part of Hempstead.
