As
previously reported, the Associated on 14th Street in Stuy Town will be closing later this year.
Norman Quintanilla, who has been the manager at the store for 16 years, recently told
Town & Village that they have told employees the last day will be Dec. 10. However, he said that the supermarket, which has been here for 26 years, will likely close by the end of November.
Quintanilla said that the decision wasn’t easy for store ownership and a number of regular customers were upset by the news.
“A lot of people are crying and upset about it,” he said. “It especially affects a lot of elderly customers that we help with phone orders. They don’t know where else to go.”
Quintanilla said that he wasn’t involved in discussions with Associated’s ownership and Blackstone regarding why the store is closing but he said that business has been steadily decreasing every year.
Joseph Falzon, the store’s owner, previously told
Crain's that a confluence of factors had cut business nearly in half. For starters,
construction on 14th Street for the L train obscured the supermarket with a 12-foot fence these past two years.
There's also increased competition, including the Target on 14th and A
that opened in July 2018 with a large food-and-beverage selection. In addition,
the Trader Joe's is expected to open early next year right across 14th Street.
In an email earlier this month, Stuyvesant Town General Manager Rick Hayduk told residents that they are "working on finding a new tenant with full understanding that a local grocery store is important to the community; but this will take some time."
Previously on EV Grieve:
The Associated on 14th Street in Stuy Town is said to close by year's end
