Sunday, April 17, 2011

At Streit's, a tradition

Parade magazine today features Lower East Side institution Streit's matzo factory. (Read the feature here ... which includes a photo essay.) When the factory opened in 1925, lines for people waiting for fresh matzo "snaked around the block." (Ed. Note: Call 311!)

Today? “Now, 20-somethings roll out of the after-hours bars across the street in the morning,” says Alan Adler, [founder Aron] Streit’s great-grandson.

And!

Despite lucrative real estate offers, the company has stayed put. “Being a family business, we have a legacy,” Adler says. “We try to keep tradition alive as best we can.”

[Photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing NY]

5 comments:

Lisa said...

Talk about a mitzvah for the Lower East Side!

Cheese said...

It's awesome to walk by and watch the matzo being made year round!

Jill said...

Didn't they try to sell a couple years ago but it fell through and they decided to stay? Plus, I think the bulk of what they produce is now in NJ. Still, I'm happy they are still here.

Anonymous said...

Jill, I think the real story is that a couple of years ago they were engaged in a hard negotiation with labor and put out the story of a potential sale of the factory in order to get concessions in the new contract.

Tom said...

I don't understand why matzo imported from Israel is 33-50% cheaper than matzo made locally. At Key Foods, I can get five one pound boxes of matzo from Israel for $6.99.