Food Cellar & Co. Market opened Wednesday on the ground floor of a posh residential building on Center Blvd. - near the Pepsi-Cola sign along the East River."It's a nice store with high quality products - but you pay for it," Brenda Pech, 30, said while perusing produce with her 4-month-old daughter, Sophia.
She said she normally takes the subway to Whole Foods in Union Square - not exactly a picnic with Sophia in a stroller. "The prices at Whole Foods are more affordable," Pech said, noting the store is "definitely tailored" toward yuppie residents of the high-rise towers dotting Queens West, a state-run redevelopment project.
New market Food Cellar & Co. opens in Hunters Point
Food Cellar is co-owned by Erhan Bahcecr, who is president of Amish Market, which has four stores in New York City. Bahcecr and his business partner, Metin Mangut, bristled at the notion the store is "high-end." They said they are a local company that sells local produce and ensures everything is all-natural.
Food Cellar's debut was marred by picketing from Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. Organizer John Mallen said Amish Market has been investigated by the state and federal government for unfair labor practices.
Bahcecr said Food Cellar is independent of Amish Market and added: "We learned our lesson."
Amish Market: Here's yet another example of a business that labor organizers are unhappy with, but did not meet any resistance by city pols. Not only that, but it's located in a "state-run redevelopment project." Yet Walmart has been locked out of private developments in the Big Apple for years by pols using the anti-union excuse. Why is that?
11 comments:
Wow a gourmet food store! Just what we need. I guess the people in that "affordable housing" that will be built here can just starve.
Yet Walmart has been locked out of private developments in the Big Apple for years by pols using the anti-union excuse. Why is that?
Because Walmart is a benefit to working folks seeking low prices and possibly a PT job. Their goods are the same as your supermarket and other stores such as Macy's etc - except Walmart prices are much cheaper. The Pols are protecting other businesses that rip you off.
Wow a gourmet food store! Just what we need. I guess the people in that "affordable housing" that will be built here can just starve.
team gioia to the rescue! you see, it all makes sense now!
There is no affordable housing in Queens West. The new condo being built there is being marketed at $1000 sq/ft. 1BR rent for at least $2000 a month. This is a perfect store for this location. As the article says implies they understand their target demographic.
Yet Walmart has been locked out of private developments in the Big Apple for years by pols using the anti-union excuse. Why is that?
So that people such as "Long Island City resident Lindsay Leggett" (shown in the Daily News article) clutching her free-trade coffee with soy milk can feel smug in her superiority over those lower class Republican voting rubes in New Jersey and Long Island who gasp! shop at Wal-Mart!!
No I think Walmart would definitely be patronized more by the tweeded masses than by anyone else.
There is no affordable housing in Queens West. The new condo being built there is being marketed at $1000 sq/ft. 1BR rent for at least $2000 a month. This is a perfect store for this location. As the article says implies they understand their target demographic.
so...why...is...team.... gioia...concerned.... about... hunger?
Great, so they will soon close the Pathmark a mile away on Northern (as is rumored)
So its a zero sum game.
Of course the prices are going to be high when you tack the word "gourmet" on there.... and when there's no other game in the area. Of course if these "Queens West" residents weren't too good for Pathmark, they'd have affordable shopping nearby.
my gawd---who SAID they're closin' PathMark ?
While I agree this store represents all that is wrong with Queens West (the only reason I'll walk through this store is for the free samples), there certainly is more affordable housing here. Just gotta look for it.
-Renter paying $1100 for 1 BR
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