King Kullen sale to Giunta's Meat Farms finalized, ending ownership era for 'America's first supermarket'

A nearly century-old era for King Kullen has come to an end, as the sale of the iconic supermarket chain to another family-owned Long Island grocer has been finalized.

Giunta’s Meat Farms' purchase of King Kullen Grocery Co. Inc. closed Friday, the grocers said in a joint statement Saturday morning, two months after announcing a sale was planned.

Oakdale-based Giunta’s Meat Farms had 10 Long Island stores before its purchase of King Kullen’s 24 supermarkets and four Wild by Nature natural food stores, all of which are on the Island.

"Giunta’s Meat Farms saw an opportunity to bring together two family-owned Long Island supermarket companies with deep roots in the communities they serve," the statement said.

"The acquisition allows Meat Farms to expand its presence in Nassau County while building on King Kullen’s legacy, strong locations, loyal customers, and dedicated employees."

The purchase price for King Kullen Grocery Co. Inc. has not been publicly disclosed.

No grocery stores are expected to close and no employees are expected to be laid off due to the sale, the companies said.

Most King Kullen and Giunta’s employees are unionized.

"For employees, the expectation is largely business as usual. All existing union contracts will be honored, and union employees should not see a change in the terms of those agreements," the retailers said in the statement.

Neither retailer disclosed its number of employees.

But in July, after both retailers announced the impending sale, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union locals said they represented more than 2,160 King Kullen employees.

The retailers said the sale of King Kullen will benefit customers, who will see expanded produce, meat and deli departments, and more competitive pricing.

"At a time when Long Islanders are facing higher costs across nearly every aspect of daily life, we see the acquisition as an opportunity to increase our buying power to significantly lower prices for consumers throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties," the retailers said in the statement.

As for whether stores might be renamed, no decisions have been made yet about which locations will retain the King Kullen name and which will transition to the Giunta’s Meat Farms banner, according to the statement.

The grocers declined to comment on King Kullen's leaders specifically and their roles after the sale.

"King Kullen has an exceptional and experienced leadership team, and we intend to retain that leadership structure as we bring the organizations together," the statement said.

Tracey Cullen, a great-granddaughter of King Kullen's founder, was appointed the grocer's first female president and chief operating officer in June.

Challenged by 'increased competition and rising costs'

The Giunta family started in the grocery business in 1952, when Joseph Giunta opened his first grocery store in Queens, according to Giunta’s Meat Farms’ website. Longtime friends Philip Giunta and Peter Levantino opened the first Giunta’s Meat Farms in 1992, the website says.

Founded by Michael J. Cullen in Queens in 1930, King Kullen markets itself as "America's first supermarket," a claim confirmed by the Smithsonian Institution.

While Hauppauge-based King Kullen remained the largest family-owned grocery chain on Long Island for decades, the grocer and other traditional supermarket chains have closed dozens of stores in the region over the past several years, as more discounters and specialty grocers drew a growing share of food dollars.

King Kullen Grocery Co. had closed 14 stores since 2015, including a Hewlett store in May and a Middle Island store in July 2025.

"King Kullen’s primary challenges were increased competition and rising operating costs. This led the company’s leadership to determine that a sale to the right partner was the best path forward for King Kullen and its employees," the retailers said in the joint statement Saturday.

King Kullen previously attempted a sale to another grocer several years ago but the deal fell through.

In January 2019, Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, which is owned by Dutch-Belgian holding company Ahold Delhaize and is the largest grocer on Long Island, announced it planned to buy King Kullen, which had 32 supermarkets and five Wild by Nature stores at that point.

A year and half later, both retailers announced the deal was off, citing changes in the marketplace due to the pandemic.

But Rob Newell, president of UFCW Local 1500 in Westbury, told Newsday in June 2020 that the Federal Trade Commission had been a roadblock to the deal.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.