Saturday, March 8, 2008

Closing Waldbaum's in Huntington Station?

I'm hearing rumors that the Waldbaum's on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station is under threat of closing. Sales aren't what the HQ wants; too many small purchases, not enough sales of substance. The story is that a Hispanic-themed supermarket wants to take over the space. This won't go over well. The competition presented by the overpriced Stop&Shop may have proven to be too much. It would seem to be a decent enough location, with several other viable stores in the same center. I'm looking forward to hearing more. Previously reviewed, including a mention of an increase in Hispanic products.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, this would not be surprising given the active neglect of the store over the years. There are two versions of Waldbaum's markets. One version is the shiny, Waldbaum's Fresh version run by A&P holding company that is on 110 near NSP, and the other side of the company as we see there on Jericho Tpk which has another form of ownership or management, although I'm fuzzy on the details.

I have asked them to spruce the place up, get better quality produce, etc. The best they could manage is a small redesign of the produce dep't. Waldbaum's has ceded H.S. to King Kullen and Stop & Shop, both, as you said, way overpriced. We rarely shop at either store.

Mexican/Central American/Hispanic owned food market is fine with me and deserves support from the local community if the produce is better, prices are affordable while maintaining reasonable labor and service standards. Such a market would also have to market inclusively to be a success.

E.M.