BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 A Lehigh Valley businessman will soon open a new destination for essential groceries and household items in Northampton County.<\/p>\n
Iffy Ansari, owner of A1 Quick Shops, has purchased 1225 N. New St. in Bethlehem and plans to convert the former beauty salon into a new neighborhood grocery store, according to a news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This will be the 21st location for Ansari, who has been steadily expanding his convenience store business across the Lehigh Valley for the past two decades.<\/p>\n
Ansari said he was immediately drawn to the property\u2019s prime location.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the sign and knew it was perfect,\u201d Ansari said. \u201cIt\u2019s a busy neighborhood, close to the university, and surrounded by other successful businesses. It\u2019s the best location for a convenience store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renovation plans include removing freestanding interior walls, replacing the residential-style front door with a commercial aluminum glass door and installing a new heating and cooling system.<\/p>\n
Ansari also plans to install new shelving and update the flooring to commercial vinyl to accommodate high foot traffic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He expects construction to begin the first week of November and hopes to open the store before the new year.<\/p>\n
The new store will carry essential grocery and household items, drinks, tobacco, coffee and Pennsylvania Lottery tickets, Ansari said. It will not sell alcohol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hold all my stores to a high standard,\u201d Ansari said. \u201cThey are always clean, well-lit, and fully updated. They may not be Wawa, but they\u2019re decent and respectable stores. Everything inside is brand new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ansari moved to the Lehigh Valley in 2005 after a family trip to Dorney Park led him to discover the area.<\/p>\n
He purchased his first business that same year on West Turner Street in Allentown. Since then, he has grown his operation to include convenience stores, a wholesale business and a laundromat.<\/p>\n
The purchase of the Bethlehem property was financed by Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group LLC in Allentown.<\/p>\n
\u201cJeff is awesome,\u201d Ansari said. \u201cThis was my first loan through a broker, and he walked me through every step. He always had a second option if one didn\u2019t work. I highly recommend him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barber said he was pleased to help Ansari acquire the property and looks forward to the opening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIffy is a smart, committed business owner who understands his market well,\u201d Barber said. \u201cThis location will serve the neighborhood and expand his already impressive footprint across the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Raad of Harvey Z. Raad Realtors was the listing agent for the transaction, and the closing was handled by VAST Abstract of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
Ansari, who often builds and renovates his stores himself, will work with a trusted group of local contractors for the electrical, plumbing and finish work.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Ansari hopes to make a lasting impact on the community by building a 24-hour indoor recreational center offering pickleball, badminton, table tennis, and a walking track.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge need for a facility like that in the Valley,\u201d Ansari said. \u201cAs a professional marathon walker and badminton player, I know how important it is to have healthy spaces where kids and adults can stay active.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is currently searching for land or an existing warehouse to convert and said Barber has already offered to help secure the financing for the future project.<\/p>\n
Ansari invites the public to follow A1 Quick Shops on social media for updates on the renovation and opening of the new Bethlehem location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 A Lehigh Valley businessman will soon open a new destination for essential groceries and household…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[15505,119,153,155,154,15486,15504,655,656,157,15506,15507,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-23374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-a1-quick-shops","9":"tag-allentown","10":"tag-bethlehem","11":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","12":"tag-bethlehem-news","13":"tag-convenience-store","14":"tag-iffy-ansari","15":"tag-jeff-barber","16":"tag-lehigh-financial-group-llc","17":"tag-lehigh-valley","18":"tag-neighborhood-grocery-store","19":"tag-north-new-street","20":"tag-northampton-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}