As we first reported back in March, this 14th Street location was to close on May 30, according to a WARN notice filed on Feb. 25 with the New York State Department of Labor.
The WARN filing says that the Food Emporium lease is expiring. The closure will impact 50 employees, per the notice.
In February 2020, Lois Weiss at the Post reported that Target signed a lease for the 32,579 square feet here in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. At the time, the Food Emporium was said to stay here through the end of April 2023. Perhaps now Target will push forward their opening date.
And we'll walk off with a passage from Rachel Sugar's March 11 essay at Grub Street titled "New York Grocery Stores Are Uniquely Weird. That’s Why They’re Important" ...
In itself, the Union Square Food Emporium was not special. It was — and is! (until May 30) — what one might call "serviceable," which is to say that it does indeed sell groceries and has two stars on Yelp. But it is emblematic of its kind. It is, like Key Food and Foodtown and C-Town and Gristedes and Associated and Bravo and D’Agostino, a quintessential New York City chain. Are these stores largely mediocre? Of course, but they are distinctly mediocre. And while there are recognizable differences between them, such as quality and ownership and location, spiritually, they are the all same.
Previously on EV Grieve: