Business

Get fresh with Three Guys from Brooklyn

January 28, 2012 Denise Romano

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Denise Romano r

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For the freshest fruits and vegetables, look no further: ThreeGuys from Brooklyn has got you covered.

Open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, Three Guys is anold-school Brooklyn fruit and vegetable market, said Philip Penta,Jr., who owns Three Guys with his father, Philip Penta, Sr., andfriend Scott Zimmerman. We have no doors, we never close.

It all started when Zimmerman’s father, Stanley, opened up asmall fruit and vegetable market at 65th Street and Fort HamiltonParkway in 1975. In 1978, Stanley, his brother Howard andbrother-in-law Harry — the original Three Guys — opened abigger market in another location.

When the first location became available again, Stanley’s twosons Scott and Howard, along with friend Penta, revitalized thebusiness and re-opened in 1998. Since then, Stanley and Howard havepassed away, but their legacy of being The Poor People’s Friendlives on.

We have a huge variety and value that you won’t find anywhereelse, Penta said. Lots of places sell cheap produce at a cheapprice, but we sell good produce for a good price. We try toemphasize the value for your dollar.

Three Guys’ inventory is 90 percent fruits and vegetables, butthe store also carries a large selection of fresh dairy products,dried fruits and nuts, basic groceries and baked bread, deliveredtwice daily from a local bakery.

Two trailers of produce come at night and there is a constantturnover of produce, Penta said. Everything is fresh and that’swhy we have the business that we do. It even surprises me attimes.

Three Guys also has produce that you won’t be able to find inother supermarkets, including parsley roots, Ecuadorian yucca,sweet plantains, batata, tomatillo, knob celery, turnips andbeets.

Everything seems normal to me because we have it all the time,Penta admitted, adding that Three Guys recently launched its ownbrand of grated cheese and eggs – and club soda is next on thelist.

Three Guys has recently made some environmentally consciousdecisions.

We changed all of our fluorescent bulbs to energy savers,Penta said, We also have state-of-the-art machines that break downsolid waste into water. We try to do business environmentallyresponsibly.

Three Guys is located at 6502 Fort Hamilton Parkway and deliverslocally Monday through Friday. The store can be reached at718-748-8340 or at www.3GuysFromBrooklyn.com.