From the Times Ledger:
Seth Fiddle was visiting the Astoria Federal Savings bank right outside his job when he said he realized he was getting tired of the rumors.
The managing partner of Flushing’s Garden World overheard there that some customers believed his store would be changing ownership or closing.
“I just want people to realize that we are not going anywhere,” Fiddle said. “Things around us might be changing, but we are not.”
Fiddle said speculation over the one-stop gardening supermarket near the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard and 46th Avenue accelerated when customers heard that its next door neighbor Waldbaum’s was closing its doors this summer.
He said once consumers got word of the incoming Korean cuisine supermarket H Mart as the grocery store’s replacement, some thought Garden World would also be headed for a shake-up in ownership or shutdown.
“It isn’t good to have rumors like that going around,” Fiddle said. “It affects a lot. If I thought a place was going out of business, what is the use of a guarantee on something like a shrub purchase?”
Garden World, a tenant of the property that also includes Astoria bank and Waldbaum’s, has a long history in the Bayside and Flushing area. The store holds a lease through 2030 on the property.
