 Soon, they were maintaining large amounts of grocery, dairy and even candling their own private label eggs.While most of the stores were neighborhood size groceries, members began to build larger supermarkets on Long Island and other locations in the tri-state, metropolitan area, and at this time the stores numbered approximately 260 stores.As supermarket chains grew larger and larger in the late 1950s and 1960s, it grew increasingly difficult to compete in the New York City environs, and Mr. Chalek hired a CEO away from Hills Supermarkets, a much larger chain, and not a cooperative.