Cream of the crop: Top Tomato carves out a niche in New Jersey's competitive supermarket scene by specializing in produce and Italian specialties.

MIX A JERSEY-FRESH BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE WITH TOUGH, NO-NONSENSE NEW YORK ATTITUDE AND CHARISMA AND WHADYA GET? The Top Tomato Super Store, of course. A staple in New York City's Italian neighborhoods for more than a quarter century, Top Tomato has taken its show on the road, opening a 31,000-square-foot outpost-its largest location by far--in affluent Freehold Township, N.J. The store has become a magnet for the thousands of Staten Islanders and Brooklynites who have relocated to suburban Monmouth County in recent years. Along with Garden State-bred locals, they pack the aisles, stocking up on authentic imported Provolone, homemade Italian sausage, fresh baked Italian bread, homemade mozzarella, butter cookies, ravioli, eggplant ring bread, spinach rolls, antipasto, olive oil, canned tomatoes, imported and domestic pasta, and literally thousands of other ethnic specialties.

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"We base ourselves on cheap prices and quality and try to make ourselves a lot different than the [traditional] supermarkets because we want to have our own gourmet niche," says Peter Sciandra, Top Tomato's 23-year-old owner. "We're all about cheap prices and turning over a lot, rather than having higher prices and a lower turnover.

We want the customer to be happy," Sciandra says. "When the customer comes into our store, shops our store and leaves here happy with the pricing and food that tastes good, I feel that I did my job for the day. Bottom line: If my customers ain't happy, I'm not happy. It's a very simple philosophy. Our customers are what make us good. If it wasn't for them we'd have nothing. They make our business flourish and give us the good reputation that we have."

It's a marketing philosophy that has been paying off in spades.

"Now that we've opened a store this size we're growing tremendously," Sciandra says. "We're very impressed with ourselves that we're actually getting to the level where we're competing with major chains like Foodtown, ShopRite and Wegmans. We never thought that we would do that. This is a very, very big accomplishment."

It's one achieved with the help of family. Top Tomato is a family affair, with brothers Anthony, 29; Sal, 27; and Stephen, 21, all co-owners and involved in key aspects of the business, along with aunts and uncles and patriarch Sal Sciandra, who founded Top Tomato as a small produce market on College Point Avenue in Queens and today is in charge of real estate. Prior to planting the seeds for Top Tomato, the elder Sciandra operated Sciandra International, a wholesale produce house in the Hunts Point Market.

In addition to the Freehold store, which opened in late April, Top Tomato has four outposts on Staten Island, along with stores in Queens, Yonkers and a little further south of Freehold in Brick, N.J. Most of those stores range between 8,000 to 11,000 square feet. "This new size [31,000 square feet] is definitely a size we're going to stay with. It works very well for us," Sciandra says, adding that Top Tomato is currently negotiating to open a second Monmouth County store in a former Linens 'N Things in Holmdel.

Sales Breakdown

Produce       30%
Grocery       25%
Meat/Seafood  20%
Grocery       15%
Bakery        10%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

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The larger size paves the way for Top Tomato to enter into new categories, like service cheese and traditional dry groceries. "Grocery is one of our lesser strong points," Sciandra acknowledges. "Our other stores do not have a full extensive grocery department. We have a full extensive deli, a very, very large produce department and we have great bakeries."

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Breads, rolls, cakes, pastries and Italian cookies for those bakery departments are supplied by a 30,000-square-foot commercial bakery that the Sciandra family owns on 18th Avenue in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

Many customers make a beeline to the bakery department to snatch up fresh crush' loaves of Italian bread before they're gone.

THREE TIERS IN THE FOUNTAIN

Anchoring a colonial-themed shopping center with Walgreens, Panera Bread, Sleepy's and other tenants, Top Tomato leases half of a former Acme Markets location. Acme shuttered the state-of-the-art location after only about only two years, unable to compete with the Norkus Foodtown in the adjacent shopping center, Sciandra says. "Since it was an Acme, there was a lot of stuff already here--all of the electrical work and the flooring--so it was a little bit cheaper of an investment for us," he says.

But the shelving, cases and coolers were long gone, which was fine since Sciandra's father likes to build fixtures from scratch and add unique touches such as the massive three-tiered fountain that greets customers entering the Freehold store.

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"We had a little room and thought we'd add a little something to the store to give a nice atmosphere to the customer," Sciandra says. "The trickling of water puts customers at ease when they're shopping and their mind is a little at rest."

Adjacent to the fountain is another Top Tomato traffic stopper--the giant Provolone. Measuring more than six feet tall and weighing in at 500 pounds, it's supported by cables anchored in the ceiling. The Provolone is worth about $6,000 and was donated by Musto Foods, one of Top Tomato's wholesalers.

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"We have numerous customers come in and take pictures next to it. It is really an attraction," Sciandra says, adding that it will hang there another two years until it is perfectly aged.

The giant Provolone is flanked by two smaller Boar's Head Provolones that hang from handmade wooden fixtures. "Our goal was to rotate them every six months, put new ones in and cut these up, but our store has been so busy that we're having to take them out every month," Sciandra says.

Most of the rest of Top Tomato's cheeses are merchandised from an extensive Cheeses From Around The World counter. "A new thing for us is that we're custom cutting the cheese for the customer in addition to the pre-cut sizes," Sciandra says.

But what really catches shoppers' eyes when they enter the store is the produce. Top Tomato literally stocks tons and tons of produce. A display of watermelons runs some 50 feet and there are mountains of bananas, cucumbers, eggplants, lemons, potatoes, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. An average supermarket might have one facing of artichokes; Top Tomato has an overflowing six-case display.

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"Produce is our specialty and takes up more than a third of our selling floor," Sciandra says. "We have all the main veggie items that everybody goes crazy for, but we also have a lot of different specialty stuff, like all of your soup greens, specialty mushrooms and Hispanic items."

DELI DELIGHTS

After getting their produce, shoppers grab a number and line up at the deli counter. There in addition to Boar's Head luncheon meats and homemade roast beef and turkey, they stock up on Italian specialties. The service case is stacked with fried eggplant, broccoli, mushrooms and cauliflower; Chicken Romano (chicken with eggplant, ricotta and tomato); rice balls; jumbo Sicilian rice balls; mozzarella sticks; Eggplant Coroza (eggplant, mozzarella, tomatoes, sauce and cheese); stuffed artichokes and Mozzarella Coroza (mozzarella cheese between slices of white bread that is breaded and deep-fried) to name a few.

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A steam table is filled with made-fresh-daily lunch specials, such as chicken meatballs, homemade manicotti, stuffed pork loin, rigatoni bolognaise, barbecued pork spare ribs and sesame chicken.

"Everything in our deli is all homemade--every single item," Sciandra says. "And everything is made on premise."

Items are artistically arranged on colorful platters or separated by parsley runners. "Appearance is everything," Sciandra says. "It's all about garnishing, freshness and color break-up. You'll notice that we don't put white next to white. We always put it next to green or another color dish so that it catches the eye."

One item that catches the eye of almost every shopper is the homemade mozzarella. "We sell about 125 curds a week and each curd weighs about 40 pounds. It is made here in-house," Sciandra says.

Equally impressive are the rotisserie chicken sales. "We probably sell 150 to 200 a day when they are $4.99 each, but when we put them on sale at 2 for $5 we'll probably sell about 500 a day," Sciandra says.

Catering is also a key part of the deli operation. Sciandra is already looking forward to Thanksgiving when Top Tomato touts its turkey dinner program, where for $199.00 shoppers can get a complete meal that feeds 15 to 20. In its other stores the company typically sells 150 to 200 dinners, but in Freehold he is looking to sell 300 to 400. Catering is also done for communions, graduations, corporate events and birthday parties.

"When we do catering we make the food as late as possible," Sciandra says. "If you are picking up an order at 12 o'clock we want to be making your food at 9 in the morning. We do not cook anything the day before. We do not freeze anything. All of our sauces are homemade and a lot of chains aren't making their sauces on premises."

Also made in-house is the homemade ring bread, a Danish-looking bread stuffed with eggplant, olives, artichokes, prosciutto and other fillings. Placed on the top of the counter, they are snatched up by shoppers almost as fast as the clerk can re-stock the supply.

"We're noted for these breads and sell thousands each week," Sciandra says. "It is one of our most traditional items."

The ring bread reminds shoppers to stop next at the bakery department. In the morning, self-service cases are piled high with scores of different types of Italian bread--twists, large twists, regular Italian, value-pack Italian, old-fashioned, powdered long, semolina, semolina heroes and whole wheat longs, along with rolls and bagels.

The service case is filled with homemade cookies ($3.49 lb. for shortening-based, $5.99 lb. for butter) in more than a dozen varieties, including anisette, fruit bars, jelly-filled and almond and chocolate Quaresimali, an Italian biscuit similar to biscotti.

Along the back wall is the cash-and-carry seafood department. Most items are sourced from New York's Fulton Fish Market and the selection includes not only the typical lobster, shrimp, tilapia and salmon, but also Italian specialties, such as octopus, scungilli, mussels salad and fruit Dimare (salad of the sea), made with squid, calamari, shrimp, scungilli, octopus, crabmeat, olives, celery, lemon juice, oil and vinegar.

In the adjacent meat department service is key. "Everything is custom-cut and fresh. Nothing is sold in Cryovac and our butcher will custom-cut anything for the customer," Sciandra says. About 40% of sales come from the service case. Black Angus Star Ranch beef has just been introduced as an exclusive.

As one would expect in an Italian store, all of the sausages arc made in-house and are sold in traditional link, as well as patties and ring styles.. "My mother made these recipes from us and we got them from uncles and grandparents down the line," Sciandra says.

Freehold is the first Top Tomato to stock pantry staples like Hellmann's mayonnaise, Heinz ketchup, Campbell's soup and Bounty paper towels. Sciandra admits that his selection isn't as broad as his mainstream competitors, nor is his grocery pricing as sharp as Wegmans or Foodtown, but most shoppers plying the aisles of Top Tomato are looking for hard-to-find Italian staples anyway.

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That's why imported and domestic Italian products--pasta, canned tomatoes, sauces, canned seafood, oils, cookies, beverages--are housed on a double-wide Aisle 4, better known as Little Italy. Suspended like a blimp over the aisle is a giant Top Tomato tomato sauce can. It serves as a harbinger of a soon-to-come private label line. Pointing to the 60 running feet of pasta, Sciandra says, "This is what we're known for. This is why we get our recognition. This is why people love us and why people travel from all over Jersey to come see us."

Brands include Divella, Baresi, Colavita, De Cecco, La Feda, Ronzoni and Barilla, along with Light & Fluffy and Pennsylvania Dutch brand egg noodles. In just Baresi there are over a dozen cuts, including seme di meloni #72, linguine #14, bavettine #15 cut, spaghettini #9, bucatini #6, spaghetti ristorante #8 and capelini #11.

The canned tomato selection is equally impressive, featuring a dozen brands, ranging in size from 2-ounce tomato paste to 106-ounce tins.

Other Italian specialties include Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread, Manhattan Special coffee soda and mayonnaise-size jars of Effervescente, lemon flavored crystals that fizz like Alka-Seltzer when added to water and serve as a digestive aid.

"Since our store is based on the Italian specialty food market we wanted to make our Italian specialties the center of attraction," Sciandra says. "We bring in containers of goods from Italy maybe every three months. We have family members that travel to Italy and make deals."

Standing in the dairy/frozen aisle, the last aisle in the shopping pattern, Sciandra points to the row of upright freezer cases. "We don't feel that we have enough and we'd like to have more," he says.

"When we opened this store my brothers and I were a little skeptical and nervous, but now we're seeing that we should have gone a little bit bigger. We could have gone with a lot more in frozen. But who knows, in the future with that vacant 30,000 square feet next door, maybe we'll break down this wall and make the store bigger."

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Sounds like a Top Tomato Super Super Store might be in the offing.

For additional pictures of the Top Tomato Super Store, visit www.groceryheadquarters.com.

STORE STATS

Grand opening date              April 29, 2009
Total Area                      31,000 square feet
Selling Area                    21,000 square feet
Number of SKUs                  25,000
Number of Checkouts             8
Number of Aisles                7
Estimated Weekly Sales          $500,000
Number of Employees             85
Store Hours                     7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Mon. -Sat.;
                                7:00 AM to 8:00 PM Sunday
Store Designer/Gen. Contractor  Sal Sciandra Sr.
Wholesaler                      General Trading, Carlstadt, N.J.

THE COMPETITORS

Number of retailers within a 5-mile radius.

RETAILER  #OF LOCATIONS

Acme            1
Foodtown        2
Wegmans         1
ShopRite        1

PRICE CHECK

Item                    Top Tomato     Foodtown        Wegmans

Bananas (lb.)            39-cents      69-cents       59-cents

Eggplant(lb.)            99-cents        $1.29          $2.49

Cantaloupe               99-cents       2/$5.00        2/$5.00

Cello Carrots (lb.)       2/$100        99-cents        $1.290

Cucumber                 5/$1.99        3/$1.99        66-cents

Cauliflower (head)       99-cents         $2.99         $2.99

Peaches (lb.)            78-cents       99-cents        $1.29

Whole Watermelon          $4.99           $2.99*        $3.99

Broccoli (head)           $1.29          99-cents       $1.29_

Anise/Fennel (each)      99-cents         $1.99         $1.99

Meat Loaf Mix (lb.)       $4.49           $3.99         $3.79

Ground Chuck (lb.)        $1.99           $2.99         $2.99

Chicken drumsticks        $1.49           $1.69       79-cents
Family Pack (lb.)

Milk (gallon)             $1.99      $2.29[summation]   $2.39

Extra Large Eggs         99-cents         $1.89         $1.89
(dozen)

Ovaltine (12-oz.)         $4.19           $4.29         $3.59

Chock full O'Nuts         $4.29           $3.79         $3.39
coffee (11.5-oz.)

Campbell's tomato soup    $1.19          85-cents      79-cents
(10 3/4 oz.)

Sclafani crushed          $1.29           $1.59        $1.59 **
tomatoes (28-oz.)

Coke (2 liter)            $1.49           $1.39         $1.49

Barilla angel hair        $1.49           $1.49         $1.19
(1 lb.)

Fantastic (Qt.)           $2.99           $2.99         $2.49

Hellmann's Mayonnaise     $5.89           $3.99         $3.49
(30-oz.)

Milk-Bone (24-oz.)        $3.89           $3.49         $3.49

Whiskas Temptations       $1.79           $1.99         $1.49

TOTAL                    $51.76          $54.79         $53.93

* With club card and redemption of 5,000 S&H Green Points
[ohm] Organic _Crowns per Ib. [summation] with card ** Red Pack brand
Price check conducted July 21, 2009 at Top Tomato Super Store, 200
Mounts Corner Dr., Freehold, N.J.; Foodtown of Raintree, 160 Village
Center Dr., Freehold, N.J., Wegmans, 55 U.S. Highway 9, Englishtown
(Manalapan), N.J.