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Price Chopper store will add deli
BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net

    Ben & Bill are coming to the Price Chopper on Route 50.
    Price Chopper is preparing to expand its Ben & Bill’s Deli franchise, which started two years ago at its Slingerlands supermarket. The New York-style deli in Saratoga will be the second store in the chain that bears the name of Price Chopper founders Ben and Bill Golub.
    The Saratoga deli is expected to open in early spring in a Price Chopper that is undergoing an 11,000-square-foot expansion. Price Chopper has no other Ben and Bill’s in the pipeline, company spokeswoman Mona Golub said.
    At the 2006 grand opening of a then newly renovated supermarket in Slingerlands, Price Chopper President Neil Golub said: “If we have it right, we can do it elsewhere.”
    But Mona Golub said Friday, “We’re going to take them one store at a time.”
    To prepare for the Slingerlands Ben & Bill’s, Price Chopper received permission to use special Russian dressing from Joe’s, a popular deli that closed long ago on Madison Avenue in Albany.
    The supermarket chain’s executive chef also studied New York City’s premier delis. He later decided to order Ben & Bill’s corned beef, pastrami and brisket from their supplier, State National Provisions, now known as Old World Provisions in downtown Albany.
    Ben & Bill’s menu includes soups, triple-decker sandwiches and a “Monster Sandwich” of hot corned beef and pastrami. Although Price Chopper markets Ben & Bill’s as a Jewish-style deli, its food is not kosher.
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Ben and Bill’s Deli at the Slingerlands Price Chopper.