Sunday, July 26, 2015

Another supermarket closing

From the Queens Courier:

The Met Food market in Flushing will be closing its doors after Sunday, July 26, to make way for a new development.

After more than 30 years of operation, the independently-owned neighborhood grocery store, located at 41-62 Bowne St., is shutting down following a decision by owners Abel and Ahmed Saleh to sell the property.

In an interview, store manager Ziyad Saleh said the property has been purchased by a number of investors who plan to raze the building and existing foundation, which cannot support more than two stories. The property’s new owners plan to build a new foundation for a new, taller building.

However, that’s just about the only thing that’s certain about the future of the site. Rumors and speculation abound about what’s coming to the neighborhood next — many suspect the new structure will be an apartment building or condominium, while others believe it will become a new grocery store stocked with items to attract customers from the neighborhood’s expanding Asian population.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Asian supermarkets are DISGUSTING!!! Many are dirty, the staff generally speaks NO English and ignores non-Asians and the worst part - they're filled with live animals dying a slow death!!!

The truly disgusting behemoth at 165th & Northern has stocked live frogs crammed together in boxes filled with filthy water!!! And turtles.

We all know that animals intended for the table live short, miserable, and painful lives - but this was truly depressing! And the tanks had a layer of dead fish and eels floating at the surface. No compassion here - just cha-ching! This is not a shopping venue for a sensitive, feeling person.

Anonymous said...

I found that my local Korean market is not filthy at all. It is clean and ordered.
The Chinese market , which it replaced, was truly unsanitary.
Both have seafood tanks. The Chinese fish, you could smell out in the street.

Anonymous said...

Flushing is a Chinese colony.
Learn to live with it or leave. There are no other options left.

Anonymous said...

Just what Flushing needs, another Asian grocery store to blend in with the countless ones already there. There is already one at the old Key Food location two blocks down, another one a block away down Kissena, two more within the post office, yeah, there aren't enough. (*insert sarcasm here*)

Anonymous said...

Go to a beef slaughterhouse, then comfortably eat your hamburger.
American hypocrisy is wonderful...ain't it?
Go vegan if you really are that sensitive as I have. That market you speak of is clean.
I buy my veggies and American produced, non GMO tofu there.
They are better and fresher than Marino's market.
Get over yourselves. The French eat frogs too, and nobody says "boo"!
Which lobster from a live lobster tank do you eat in an Occudental restaurant?
Yeah, I hate to see the live life in that market.
Report the consumption of turtles to the NY Turtle and Tortoise Society.
Another "White" complainer that does little beyond complaining.
The old Quartet Theater is long gone. Stop mourning. The previous Chinese market which first replaced it
Was a sanitary disaster. This one is much better.

Anonymous said...

Wow...Met, a ghetto chain market, is closing.
That means the drug dealers are finally gone from that area.
Thanks be to the Asians who drove them out of Ash (trash) Ave.

Camel bladder said...

They are not knocking down this building and installing a stronger foundation just for another retail store. They may put in an Asian supermarket on the ground floor but there will be a very tall, very ugly, overcrowded condo built on top of it. Just what FRUSHING needs more of--dense packed housing.

Anonymous said...

This may be hearsay, but aren't the owners related to the young man that was recently arrested for terrorism about a month ago? Odd that shortly after that Met decided to close a month later....

Anonymous said...

Oh no how are the losers suppose to afford any of the apartments that they're going to build. I guess time for the trash to go.

Anonymous said...

Similar announcement last week from C-Town near Broadway Station, Astoria-LIC, also past 30 yrs: "To all C-Town loyal customers over the last 30 years: We would like to thank you for your patronage and hope you enjoyed shopping with us as much as we enjoyed taking care of you. We are in the process of developing the property, but we will [be] back with a brand new store that will be one of the best stores in all of Queens. We don't know the exact timing, but will keep you informed as we finalize our plans. Thank you again for the last 30 years. C-Town Management."

This may be a reason that the Vendy-award winning King of Falafel & Shawarma [first food cart, now truck] that parks at the corner outside the C-Town parking lot has announced taking over the Chirping Chicken next to Parisi bakery to set up a regular restaurant.

We have been lucking having 3 supermarkets on Bway btwn 31 St & west to 21 St; now both Trade Fair on Crescent and the Associated (now called City Fresh Market) on 21 St are both open 24/7. There is also a fairly new Mi Tierra on 34 Ave near Crescent, two blocks away. This was formerly a Pioneer and a Met.

TRN 11106

georgetheatheist said...

What's the low-down, anyone know, about the Best Market supermarket on 37th Street between 19th and 20th Avenues? I popped in there a few days ago for the first time on the way back from the Steinway site. Now there's a real laid back supermarket. With a nice laid-back vibe.

Unknown said...

I am very upset with the decision of closing the Met Foods. Think of the elderly! The Asian markets are not well fit in the neighborhood since they don't have many essential products that we all need!

Anonymous said...

Los Angelese crap, Asian supermarket style

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-groceries-race-20150727-htmlstory.html

Unknown said...

bunch of sellout outs these days. I it all about profits and money. We don't need new developments. Flushing is over populated as is.