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Back in July, A&P filed for chapter 11, its second bankruptcy of the decade. According to published reports, the grocery chain, whose brands include The Food Emporium, Pathmark and Waldbaum’s, plans to sell or close most stores.
As for the Food Emporium on East 14th Street in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers, one industry publication reports that this location will be sold to Key Food…
No word just yet on the timing of the transition … one EVG reader noted that some shelves are no longer being restocked….
Damn. I wish the Avenue C Associated was being purchased as well. Really terrible supermarket, yeah #FirstWorldProblems but shockingly bad for the neighborhood in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI always like Food Emporium's jingle. It was catchy. I still remember it. I will miss them.
ReplyDeleteI think this is fantastic. The Food Emporium was such a ripoff. Key Food has legit sales and I'm always happy to see something other than a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's.
ReplyDeleteBrand name purchases at Key Food.
Produce at Westside Market.
All is well.
I'm getting tired of the self-deprecation of "#FirstWorldProblems". Your problems are as legitimate as any penniless third worlder. You didn't ask to be born anymore than they did.
ReplyDeleteMeh.
DeleteNever liked that store much either, or any Food Emporiums. The old A&Ps were affordable, but got pushed aside by pricier grocery chains like D'Agostinos and their own nicer, newer Food Emporiums. I remember when Grand Union was at war with A&P, now both are gone.
ReplyDeleteThe Food Emporium up on 30th St and 3rd Ave. is going to be a Trader Joe's, which means now the lines in the 14th St. Trader Joe's will only be 99 people long instead of 100 people long.
The Associated in StuyTown on 14th St has supposedly not been able to renew their lease, and another chain is reportedly offering to pay double the current rent. The Associated manager says that the students who move in don't buy nearly the same quantities as StuyTown families used to, so his business is suffering from all those NYU students who live on beer, quinoa, ramen noodles and seaweed chips. My bet is that Whole Foods wants to get in on all of that StuyTown business and cut off any other competition on East 14th. That's just what StuyTown needs to complete the transition to upscale housing, more expensive groceries.
Trader Joe's And Whole Foods sell some of the best and most reasonably priced fresh, frozen and canned goods in the city... if you know how to shop. So the more the merrier. The rest of the chains generally stink and are over-priced for the generic quality of their products.
ReplyDeleteSurprised they made it this long. FE along with the other old-guard supermarkets are stuck in the 20th century. Their customer base won't be around forever.
ReplyDeleteOh bugger. I really liked that place. Quite decent hot food, nice bakery, pretty good selection of everything else. But Key Foods on Avenue A is good as well, so maybe okay.
ReplyDeletedamn
ReplyDeleteassociated have free delivery and some very good sales
there is no supermarket left here that can compare
when they expanded it did not make it easier to shop there but i don't go to the supermarket for the decor
they also ran the met on third avenue (or at least one of them was a partner there)
soon there will be absolutely no services that are not large chains, real cheap crap, or out of sight expensive stores
damn
Re Giovanni -- I shop in that Associated. Couldn't the store capitalize on the precious stuff that the college kids buy, buy stocking plenty of expensive seaweed chips etc?
ReplyDeleteI've learned that sometimes the people running the businesses that close/or are hurt are culpable, too. This Associated has shown plenty of signs of not being well run for years. Keeping cheese out, unrefrigerated, is one example -- I wasn't happy when I got home and opened up the moldy cheese I'd just paid for.
@10:29AM The local businesses are partly to blame but Millenials are very image conscious and they want their status and labels. I have never seen a generation as self aware of their appearance, the women must look down at their outfits and boobs every five seconds, and the guys are constanlty gooming ther facial hair, getting manicures and buying new shoes. They also want ther designer groceries, just listen to ter complaints about bodegas and how "reasonable" Whole Foods is. Did they not see the reports about Whole Foods ripping them off with scales that massively overcharge them for already overpriced food? And the quaility is no better, they just act like the invented fruits and vegetables. I once bought a beautiful looking fruit platter there that was completelly inedible, every piece of fruit was sour or as tough as plastic.
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problems at some of the older grocery stores, with cheese and milk being kept at high temperatures, the milk is spoilt before you get it home, and the cheese tastes stale. It seems like some grocers are trying to save on their electriic bills. If a dairy section feels as warm as the rest of the store then they arre cutting corners. But it's not right when a good tenant can't even negotiate for a new lease just because the greedy landlord wants a tenant with a new image so they can lure tenants into overpriced apartments.
That's some worldview you got there Giovanni. You seem like a very creative imagination.
ReplyDeleteI used to work for the Food Emporium, I am not sad to see the store closed but I do feel sorry for those who worked there. The prices are too high too boot.
ReplyDeleteI was in there yesterday and they said they were 80% sure that it will be Key Food. There is still a chance that it will be Stop 'n Shop. Either way, it will be cheaper than Food Emporium. We need a neighborhood supermarket, not just TJs and Whole Foods. If you check the online flyers, Key Food is really reasonable and has great sales. My relative lived next door to one and I'd stock up there. I couldn't be happier about this change! Check out the sales now...anything that says "America's Choice" has to be sold so look for the yellow signs that say Clearance.
ReplyDeleteWell, I moved onto 15th street in November of 1975, so I guess you could say, at 67..I have seen a lot of change in the nabe. Some of it good, some not so. I never liked the A & P, then Food Emporium, and now it will be Key Food. However beneficial the new incarnation promises to be, there was one 'unintended consequence' the management of Key Food did not factor in - the EBT, a major source for food purchases for many of NY's needy, living in this area, was discontinued for the duration. I was at the checkout with a retired neighbor of mine, who lives on a modest pension. He had maybe $14 worth of items on the conveyor. When we got to paying, I had cash, and he showed his EBT card. "Sorry Sir, we don't accept EBT.." My friend, poor but proud, was deeply humiliated.... unable to pay for his groceries. "I got this," I said quietly, and paid for his food. "So," I asked the cashier, "what do you suggest people do while you wait for the paperwork on EBT to be processed?" The cashier shrugged, "Well, customers can always go to another Key Food store!" Right -- in the East Village, Avenue B? Maybe, elderly people living nearby, who are frail, or use walkers? (Genius thinking, girlfriend). Anyway, the manager was polite but said he had 'no idea when the new EBT for Key Food would be authorized". And Thanksgiving was a week away. OK, they may have a good selection, but for the hard pressed New Yorkers in financial stress, with EBT as their only safety net - the food sold there, if people can't pay for it... is moot. I fired off a letter to the Mayor, and one to Key Food's Corporate Office. Told them such stupidity and lack of transitional planning was unconscionable. They did reinstate EBT the day before Thanksgiving, but the entire episode says something about them that is not at all praiseworthy. Hey, I don't care HOW good their deli section is! Shopping there now kinda gives me the creeps.
ReplyDeleteWhole Foods and Trader Joes are not REAL SUPERMARKETS!!!! They are specialty food marts. Smarten up everybody. I JUST CAN'T ANYMORE.
ReplyDelete