Kmart, An Unlikely Astor Place Icon, Shutters Without Notice

They went broke replacing the men's room dividers, riddled with glory holes.

Was that the one with the basement?

[quote]Fewer than two dozen Kmarts are still open throughout the country

I would suggest the employees currently at those stores start looking elsewhere for work. The rest will probably close within the next year or two.

I loved shopping there. It was a mixture of hipsters and frau bitches. It will be missed.

Could you imagine what would have happened if they announced well in advance that the store was closing? Chaos, open thievery, possibly even physical harm and assault. Brazen daylight robbery. Who needs it?

Not surprised. I was in Key Largo all winter, and the KMart there was partially closed. Darn we have nothing now there. I will have to drive to the banlieue of Florida City.

This is a shame, because it actually served a purpose. Low-cost toiletries and household supplies: laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste and TP for half what it would cost at Gristedes or a bodega.

But Target is making inroads all over Manhattan—they're going in a few blocks north at Union Square—so Kmart probably just said fuck it.

When we go shopping outside Buffalo, there’s a sad, run down K Mart with mostly empty shelves.

I remember when it was the "new Kmart at Astor Place" and now it's the "former". But then Kmart everywhere is a piece of shit run into the ground by that idiot Eddie Lampert.

Wait was this the one near NYU?

Dang, the only place to buy a candy bar under $5.00 in NYC.

No mami at R11 you no knowthing

You canna buy papi's bars for pesos at Le Bodega, in Mott Haven, you no viva Bronx.

CUSN

Yes, R10.

This place was so much cheaper that Duanne/Walgreens which is highway robbery.

Why do they even bother keeping any of the remaining stores open? It’s just delaying the inevitable. I used to shop at the one across from The Grove in LA on occasion. It was always pretty sad but the last couple years before they finally shuttered it was a complete shithole. Clearly no corporate support.

As long as they don't touch Korvettes I'm fine.

I hadn't been in the Astor Place location in ages but was sad to read this nonetheless. It'll be interesting to see what ends up taking over that space.

KMart is your saving store, where your dollar buys you more. I missed the Rosie O’Donnell Penny Marshall Christmas ads this past season. I bought a punk rock overview coffee table book at Kmart in the 1970s.

I liked Kmart; I'm not going to lie. Before Lampert's fleecing and the Sears debacle, there were many great cheap options at Kmart. Gift wrap, greeting cards, books, and Holiday specials were always the best deals. Target or druggists couldn't match their offers.

I knew something was up the last time I was in there and the inventory seemed frozen.

Kmart was a good alternative bitd. But since that Lambert creep took over they never had merchandise except the cheapest of chinese shoes and stuff. It’s been dead ten years at least-same with Sears.

We knew this store was closing a long time ago. Kmart and Sears both on their way out. Target is taking over as the NYC department store for the middle class.

I suspect that Target or Wal-Mart will fill this retail space. It is large and can only be afforded by a corp.

Seems like it will be a surprise to many here that there are still Dollar/99 cent stores open in NYC for cheap essentials

Good point, R23.

Back during the day, there werent many Targets, which was weird. The closest Target was the one further in east river near harlem. I thought Kmart folded years ago, but they had one in manhattan.

Costco, please.

There were actually two in Manhattan, one in Midtown across the street from Macy's and the one in Astor Place. Now both are gone.

Didn't this location house Wanamaker's a long time ago?

[quote]Didn't this location house Wanamaker's a long time ago?

No, I think Wannamakers was a block south, I think across the street from the Public Theatre.

I bet they’ll put a WeWork in there.

Yes, R29, Kmart was in the space formerly occupied by Wannamaker's.

...and not even a blue light special.

I didn't know there were any Kmarts remaining in the US.

Oh noes! I enjoyed shopping at a kmart in the city. That photo booth in the lobby!

I completely forgot KMart existed

[quote] I remember when it was the "new Kmart at Astor Place" and now it's the "former".

Went opening weekend and it was a big deal. Always heard of it but NYC and Long Island didn't have them until the late 90's

How come there are no Walmart’s in Manhattan?

r38, because the unions and the city have successfully kept Wal-mart out.

I grew up in working class metro Detroit, which was the home of K Mark (from the Kresge Dime Stores). Many trips to K Mart in my childhood, watching my aunt fight her through the crowds around the blue light special table, eating gummy dinner rolls and pop at the store cafeteria, buying cheap gym shoes at the start of the school year during elementary school.. My older sister and a female cousin both had high school jobs in the women’s clothing department, donning those lovely turquoise smocks on their shifts and putting poorly made clothes on lay away for customers Thank god my career path didn’t take me there.

[quote]Seems like it will be a surprise to many here that there are still Dollar/99 cent stores open in NYC for cheap essentials

I wonder if TPTB at the Public Theater, which is just a block away, are already brainstorming for a way to expand by turning the Astor Place store into another performance space. If so, that would certainly be an interesting use for it (as opposed to another store).

I spent the summer of 1999 stocking shelves at Kmart in Springfield,MO. I never shopped there but my mom loved the Big K. Now they're both gone.

Is that the same reason Wal-Mart doesn’t have much presence in LA, r39? The closest one to me is Burbank and that one only opened a few years ago. Otherwise you have to drive to Compton or Inglewood or Manhattan Beach - any location is pretty far outside the city center. Targets, on the other hand, pop up all over the city regularly.

Didn’t it used to be a Conrans? The furniture store of the 80s.

I recall reading long ago, that, to survive in a Manhattan space that big, Kmart had to sell a million dollars a day worth of goods.

I went into a Kmart a few years back in Florida and was shocked how absolutely decrepit it looked. I knew then that it wouldn’t be long before it went out of business.

Walmart had out maneuvered it.

There’s a KMart in Bridgehampton. Haven’t been in it for years. Loved it when it was Caldors. I’ll never stop missing Caldors. The same people worked there for years. You could ask them anything about cameras in the camera section they knew the answer.

R44: IIRC, Conran's was in the building east of Astor Barbers. There was one on Third Avenue near Bloomingdale's, too. I still have a white bookcase from Conran's; it was the Ikea of its day.

[quote]I went into a Kmart a few years back in Florida and was shocked how absolutely decrepit it looked.

Everything Florida touches ...

I'd very much like to believe Kmart may survive online, as Sears does presently. Without the brick & mortar overhead, they may find a new niche with loyal customers.

Recent online purchases have been some really comfortable flip-flops (buy one pair, second for one dollar!) a really thick bathmat, and a few other household items. Shipping was almost nothing, even though some items came from further away warehouses. They need to get sorted, or they'll continue to lose money on multiple shipments.

Put the homeless in there.

Kmart just gave up. Everything looked like shit. No one cleaned anything up or organized shelves

[quote]I recall reading long ago, that, to survive in a Manhattan space that big, Kmart had to sell a million dollars a day worth of goods.

Well the one at Astor Place was pretty big, multiple floors and it was always packed when it opened. Here are some photos of it.

Guess it wasn't a good idea for KMart to buy Sears.

When the 3 floor K-Mart opened there in ‘96 there was a ton of outrage about how a big store like that didn’t belong in the Mom &Pop East Village; none of those complaining had a clue that the entire 13 story building has been a Wanamaker’s department store until 1954.

R54, i think their common CEO wanted to combine the stores somehow

R55, the big difference as that Kmart was a huge national chain

Kmart still cleans up in Australia, but I think it may be a licenced deal, or wholly owned subsidiary. It still enjoys a fine reputation, not unlike Sears in Mexico, and other countries.

I remember when K-Mart came to NYC in the mid-90s, first to the 34th street location. It was the first big box national chain store to hit Manhattan (even though Bradlees had hit Union Sq a couple years before) and many of us were super pissed because we felt it was signaling the beginning of the suburbanizing of the city. Then the Kmart opened in Astor Place and was about three blocks from my apartment in the East Village.

At first I refused to shop there, but then I lost my 2nd job, so I decided to shop for some staples and BOOM! I was addicted. I fucking LOVED that place. It was clean and spacious and bright and AFFORDABLE it even had the most wonderful lunch counter on the top floor with an enormous seating area and a nearly floor to ceiling corner view of Astor Place called the K Cafe. If you were in the K Cafe at the right time of twilight, you got to see the most spectacular sundowns. And the food was cheap and not terrible.

The first movie I made, we used the K Cafe seating area as our pre-production meeting space because it was quiet and no one ever bothered us. It was also the best place to buy cheap fat clothes when I gained a bunch of weight from stress making that first movie and couldn't fit into anything I owned.

My best friend visited from LA for an extended period of time a couple years later and we went to the K Cafe and a new head of the grille was working there, an older black woman with a helium voice we named "Shirley" and we called the staff "Shirley and Company" after the high voiced woman and her band who sang "Shame, Shame, Shame." We also noticed the same (possibly homeless) woman sitting in the dining area every time we were there, notable because she was always on the verge of falling asleep and would let out a snort and snap her head back and catch herself. Yes, it was our version of Cheers, but no one knew our names.

I moved to LA a few years later, but come back to NYC frequently for work, and I would always visit the Astor Place K-Mart and the KCafe, though I haven't been in a good 7-8 years. But I will never forget it.

Nice story, r59…what was the movie?

The problem in later years was that the buyers were awful. I remember several times going in there to buy underwear. All they had on the shelves were Small and X-large. And of course, their clothing line was always Southern redneck, even when Adam Lambert started selling his crap in there.

[Quote] Didn’t it used to be a Conrans?

That became Astor Place wine.

Kmart, Yes, Kmart

R59 It was probably the nicest Kmart in existence; I'll remember it fondly. You're right about the casual clothes, they were nice. I recall buying a David Taylor golf polo there, a plain white zip neck cotton sweater, and a pair of Bermuda shorts before going on an impromptu trip. At the time, I had very little clean laundry! I hadn't really set out to purchase clothes that day, but looking around, thought this stuff is really nice for the price.

It wasn't there when I lived nr there in the 80s - but I heard about how snobby the locals were about it. Now it's gone.

I remember Ruby Wax went to NYC to interview Helen Mirren and they did a walkabout. Helen went into that Kmart she loved it so much.

I loved both of those Kmarts. I worked around the corner from the 34th Street location, and would go in nearly everyday. I bought some great Christmas decorations- Jacklyn Smith ornaments, "Miracle on 34th Street" ceramic itemsand such. All for nothing, because it was after X-mas. I also bough a suite of Martha Stewart bathroom towels and rugs there. All on sale! They were the BEST towels I ever owned. Once I was at the Astor Place location and someone wanted Martha Stewart paint...and two minutes later Martha appeared! Last week I saw a show at the Public, and I stopped into the Astor place store. The 2nd floor was closed, and it was just so gloomy inside. No photos of Kathy Ireland, or Adam Levine. It was empty. And quite. And sad. I'm not suprised they closed a few days later.

I moved to the East Village in '99, and there was nowhere else to go to get basics without paying an arm and a leg.

It was always packed. On weekends, forget it—they would have every register open with 6 to 8 people in each line.

Then Uniqlo and H&M came in, and you could go there to get cheap T-shirts, underwear and workout clothes. Then Home Depot moved into 23rd Street, and you could go there to get affordable paint, hardware and apartment stuff. And by that time you could get your cheapo towels, toiletries and everything else from Amazon. Target showed up a few years ago with free home delivery.

I stopped into the Astor Kmart a few weeks ago to look for a few things Target didn't have. It was Saturday afternoon, and it was a ghost town.

When I (English) lived in NYC I could never understand why there was so little AMERICANA.

Apparently they have an IHOP there now. I'd be there every day.

R66 The older Martha Stewart stuff was a great value for money, especially when it was on special. I hought several sets of sheets for my guest room, and they've really held up, actually improved with age. It was before Martha upped her thread count, these were simply 100% cotton sateen, very light and comfortable for warmer weather. I bought a few beach towels as well, and they were by far nicer quality than her line for Macy's.

I knew they were fading but I had no idea that there are like a dozen plus Kmarts left and only a few dozen Sears locations.

[quote] It was before Martha upped her thread count,

What is too high, if you don't mind me asking...and what's about right?

None of these stores had to sue. Reposition maybe, but they were looted and then sold off for parts.

*had to die

I loved the Kmart Martha sheets. I got a few striped ones, sort of seersucker, and they were great.

i think big box stores are dying, not popular anymore. It takes a lot of employees, thus management to run just one store. Also, they are dirty, disgusting and unhygienic. The whole idea is a LOSER.

They defaced ours with Britney.

R74 One thing I've noticed about Martha Stewart's Kmart collection was that the sheets I bought were all made in India, whilst the Macy's majority were made in China. I think the cotton and the product from India is of much higher quality.

Not to suggest yours aren't nice if they do happen to be Chinese, but I'm curious now if yours are also from India.

As someone made reference to upthread, I don't think it helps that a lot of these old-school department stores like KMart tend to "let themselves go" -- i.e., the stores become poorly-kept, even junky, with poor-quality merchandise to choose from when one shops there. It's like they figure business is never going to be that good anymore anyway what with all the Amazons and Walmarts out there, so fuck it, who cares. No point in trying anymore.

R78 I think many retail establishments vary greatly by location; not all shops gave up, as this Kmart location was always up to snuff, right up to the end. Some Macy's shops in FL make these two NY Kmarts look more like Bloomingdale's. Their selection of merchandise varies as well, as per location, and demographic.

Native New Yorkers would never patronize a K-Mart when there are so many more prestigious stores in the city. K-Mart was built for the exclusive use of tourists.

I knew K-Mart was on the way out years ago, when they stopped selling their big bags of popcorn.

[quote] Native New Yorkers would never patronize a K-Mart when there are so many more prestigious stores in the city. K-Mart was built for the exclusive use of tourists.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

I saw Jared Leto there once in the late '90s. At first I didn't recognize him because his hair was dyed black.

^ Interesting.

I hadn't thought of Conrans in years. We always said "Conran's". Did it have anything to do with The Conran Shop of the UK?

I'm old enough to remember Kresge. We said Kresges though. And we said Wards. Or Monkey Wards. Caldor OK but why did we say Caldors? Funny, those s's

Yes, it was the NYC branch, R85

There was one in the Citicorp Building as well.

I can’t wait till they close every last one of them. I always hated Kmart. It was always so bland and depressing inside. I remember their automotive department was shit too. I remember getting brakes done there and they did a shitty job. Fuck them.

I spent a lot of my childhood at the K-Mart on Sunshine in Springfield, r42. We even have several pictures of us in the store, from when my parents were trying out Polaroids to see which one to buy. The store let us keep the "practice" photos.

The one on Glenstone always smelled.

"Native New Yorkers would never patronize a K-Mart when there are so many more prestigious stores in the city. K-Mart was built for the exclusive use of tourists. You have no idea what you're talking about."

Isn't that disclaimer what NYC posters always write when confronted with the news that a chain or less than prestigious store has opened in Manhattan ( Olive Garden, etc.)?

Fond memories of KMart back in the 70's and 80's. Ours had an arcade, and a deli/ice cream shop, in addition to their restaurant in the back. We'd play video games while my folks did their shopping. I loved their cheeseburgers, cooked to order. The deli sold sacks of ham sandwiches - just shaved ham, shredded iceberg and mustard on a bun. Their ice cream stand carried Superman ice cream.

Many years later, when I moved into my first apartment, I loved the Super K up the street from me. They were open 24 hours. I did much my my grocery shopping there really late at night when there was barely anyone in the store.

This KMart began as John Wanamaker in the late 1800s. Entrance from platform of #6 Astor Place station is still there, but locked.

[quote] When I (English) lived in NYC I could never understand why there was so little AMERICANA. Apparently they have an IHOP there now. I'd be there every day.

Thankfully our tastes have matured. I used to adore IHOP. Last time I went, I realized that every pancake is just a mass of sugar. YUCK

[quote] can’t wait till they close every last one of them. I always hated Kmart.

Well, you sound like you have a full life.

[quote]This KMart began as John Wanamaker in the late 1800s. Entrance from platform of #6 Astor Place station is still there, but locked.

When they first opened the entrance was open. I remember I thought it was cool, get off the train and there it was.

I was just about to write about how I liked you could get right off the 6 train at Astor Place and go into the basement entrance. I didn’t know they closed it at some point. Shows how long it’s been since I’ve been in the city.

There was a popular joke back in the 90s (at least among 15 year olds) the punchline to which was "Attention K-Mart Shoppers!"

Something like "What's the first line of the state song of Tennessee?" but funnier.

Yes, 770 Broadway once was home to Wanamaker's. It is now filled with tech companies including FB (who took over once third floor of K-Mart), and Yahoo.

I only shopped at Kmart during the Martha Stewart years, and as others have said the MS bath towels were the best towels ever, and came in great colors. The sheets were good for the price. Both were often on sale too. The kitchen line was very good design and quality, and all these years later I still use many of the utensils, knives, etc I got there.

In NYC, Kmart pushed Daffy’s out of business.

Most department stores, be they low end or high end, started to fail when the numbers crunchers and shareholder teams got ahold of them and decided one salesperson/employee per floor was enough.

Shoppers ran in droves from that - they could already get that at Kohl's or Walmart, why make a special trip to Kmart, Sears or Macy's to get it there, too?

I bought Martha Stewart kitchen glasses there years back and they were a nice design and the right size. I still have some of them in my cabinet and use them frequently.

But when I last checked at my local K mart, I saw nothing I liked as much.

This K-mart location closed not long ago and was set up as a large Covid-19 vaccination center.

K-Mart had nothing to do with Daffy's or any other "off price" retailer such as Syms and Filene's Basement,Loehmanns etc... . Even Century 21 began to feel the pinch and changed as well.

Bottom fell out of market for all of them one by one as retail changed. Tanking economy and other woes didn't help matters.

First mentioned above really is what did Daffy's and rest in the most. Large retailers and even certain designers simply stopped selling on unsold goods to "off price" retailers, but instead opened their own such places instead.

When Daffy's first opened with a small amount of stores it was just like Loehmans or Feline's Basement. If you went often enough and were prepared to dig and look you could find all sorts of great designer things. The editors and directors of Vogue when Conde Nast was still in midtown would descend upon Daffy's on Madison Avenue near Grand Central Terminal nearly daily.

After awhile though it was same everywhere, you found less and less high end designer, and more cheap middle or lower end tat. Some of it was fine, good amount wasn't.

[quote] Feline's Basement.

Oh, dear.

and

MEOW

Martha and those Rosie and Penny Marshall commercials. End of an era.

I got my first blowjob in a Sears parking lot in a delivery truck, he was HAWT!

Damn auto spell correct.

" Filene's Basement"

The men's room at the Lawrence Avenue Sears in Chicago was like shooting fish in a barrel. Always cock to be had inside its walls.

Only a few flavors - blue collar Polish daddy, Latino guy, or stoner hippie - but lots of hard cock, nonetheless.

[quote]And of course, their clothing line was always Southern redneck, even when Adam Lambert started selling his crap in there.

Adam LAMBERT? No, dear.

[quote]Nice story, [R59]…what was the movie?

Dawson's 50-Load Weekend

[quote]How come there are no Walmart’s in Manhattan?

Oh, dear.

[quote]How come there are no Walmart’s in Manhattan?

Not just Manhattan -- there are no Walmarts in any of the five boroughs.

[quote]Is that the same reason Wal-Mart doesn’t have much presence in LA, [R39]?

I think another factor is the cost and availability of suitable real estate. There are Walmarts within the LA city limits (Panorama City, Porter Ranch, West Hills.)

This gives me the Blue Light Special blues...

Fuck! I just signed a contract to sell my clothing line there. Fuck!

[quote] Yes, 770 Broadway once was home to Wanamaker's. It is now filled with tech companies including FB (who took over once third floor of K-Mart), and Yahoo.

There is something ironic that one of the last K-Marts died in a building dominated by tech companies, when the internet is what helped to kill them.

The same person owns Sears and Kmart. Both Sears near me in Westchester cty closes this year although our Kmart is still open ( I think 🤔 )

CLOSED not closes

[quote] Isn't that disclaimer what NYC posters always write when confronted with the news that a chain or less than prestigious store has opened in Manhattan ( Olive Garden, etc.)?

I would say the restaurant thing is accurate. NYC residents are not interested in chain restaurants (unless it's fast food on the go). But we rarely would patronize sit down chains, and pretty much loathed them. When I lived in NYC I never went to any of the chains unless my mom was visiting because she would insist we go to them.

A department store is a different story. We'll spend a ton on a good meal, but we love 99 cent toilet paper just like everyone else.

R118 I think it depends on the person and it is hard to generalize about everyone. Just like in the South, Cracker Barrel is big even though we are surrounded my much better local restaurants that cook the same food much better. Sometimes people just want the dependability of a chain restaurant, where you know what you are getting. I knew an Italian guy, in college, who was born and bred in NYC and his favorite restaurant was the Olive Garden in Times Square.

R119 was he a hot Eye-talian guy?

R120- EYE - talian- Are you GAY Archie Bunker ?

He was Italian, but I wouldn't call him hot. In a gangster film he would've been the ugly henchman.

The problem with Wannamaker's, Saks, and Klein's is that you can't get alterations on a dress you haven't bought.

Penny had it in her contract she could take anything she wanted for her grandkids, and out takes.

The '80s are officially over...

I was there once and two employees had a fist fight on the selling floor. Scary,

It's a regular house of blue lights!

R123- Do you know what year this is ?

It's NOT 1966 anymore.

Walmart was and still is effectively banned from NYC thanks to actions by mayor and city council. As per the usual suspects (unions, low wage employees, and others) took offense to way Walmart did business and didn't want them getting any foot hold in NYC.

This was part of a larger war against "big box stores" that some New Yorkers felt would kill local mom and pop stores.

Career UWS politician Gale Brewer got city to ban big box stores in her then (and will be again in 2022) city council district via zoning changes.

Sadly for NYC politicians and others who supported wrong headed move they didn't predict rise of Internet/online sales. What they tried to prevent has happened anyway thanks to Amazon, Jet, and dozens of other online retail in NYC.

More....

But could Walmart have made it in NYC and still kept their prices low? Anyway, the city loses out because I go to my parents house and shop at the Walmart near them and bring it back with me. And I know others who do the same. If my taxes pay for their food stamps because Walmart doesn't give their workers enough hours, then I want something in return, like low grocery prices.

That K-Mart has only been there since late 1990's (opened in 1996 IIRC), and even then Astor Place area was far different than today.

For all intents and purposes 8th Street from almost Sixth Avenue to Third is one long extension of NYU campus. More so as over years NYU has put up dorms on Third Avenue.

It was some what like that long as NYU has been around, but late as 1980's and bit of 1990's 8th Street and even Broadway (from say 12th street going south towards Canal) was a different place. Lots of unique and great shopping places. One could spend an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon going to places like Antique Boutique, Tower Records, Nationwide Warehouse ...

Just on other side of Astor Place/Cooper Union was the official entrance into East Village at Saint Mark's Place which still then had a whole other vibe. Now that's gone as well. as area rapidly gentrifies.

Does anyone have a KMart store playlist?

R131

There's a nice big Walmart in Bayonne, NJ, so I'm good. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but long as can get my fix am happy.

Good number of Manhattan residents will rent a car for day or weekend to do a bit of shopping in NJ. We hit a few spots usually including Wegman's.

I miss the Bazaar stores. They had the most interesting crap in their stores. Stuff you didn't really want but ended up buying anyway. I once bought a paper lantern in there because Blanche DuBois had one.

[quote]We hit a few spots usually including Wegman's.

Brooklyn has a Wegman's. I wasn't all that impressed. I really didn't see much in there that you couldn't get in Whole Foods or Brooklyn Fare.

[quote]There's a nice big Walmart in Bayonne, NJ,

There's also one in Secaucus.

Most of the Kmarts in my city closed years ago, but there was one that still held on for a few more years, out in one of the lower income suburbs. I would still go there once or twice a year for stuff like trash cans, towels, Christmas decorations, bathroom scale, etc. It was always a funny excursion. When I went the last time, it had a weird vibe, and everything looked so off brand and random…I wasn’t surprised when it finally closed.

R136

If am gong to drive might as well head to NJ, it is easier and can get other things done while out there as well.

Wegman's could be considered nothing more than a better version of Whole Food's I suppose, but lately under Amazon WF is slipping, but Wegman's still in on top of their game.

R135

There was a "Third Avenue Bazaar" at corner of Third and East 78th. Behind it was a beautiful garden and above some unique apartments. Decades ago now much to community's dismay and anger a luxury high rise went up (Empire Condominium apartments).

More...

Empire Condo replaced a beautiful set of buildings known as "The Cottages".

History of

What was lost....

Meanwhile, Target rolls on....

I wish they’d put a Target in the West Village. I’m tired of schlepping out of my neighborhood. We haven’t had any good stores since Woolworths on 6th Ave closed in the 90s.

We have a Target newly opened on UES, and it strikes me as "meh". Sort of a combination K-mart, Duane Reade, Shoprite, and Bed Bath Beyond without doing everything 100%.

That being said the place like other Target stores in city is packed with fraus and others likely for just that reason. It has everything from health and beauty to bed/table linens so it's all one stop shopping.

Where Target does have it over some others of course is how tightly they've bundled internet with physical stores. Much of like what Amazon has done with WF, along with Walmart and others. It really is a shame and should be looked into as some sort of anti-trust violation.

I lived on 3rd Ave and 11th Street for most of the 90s. I was in the dorms at NYU and then I got an apartment a few years later on the same block. Back then it was a perfect neighborhood. Everything was there. You barely had to walk more than five minutes for anything you needed.

Two movie theaters, each a half block away.

Store 24, which was a nicer version of 7-11.

Several video stores, from Blockbuster to Kim's

A huge 7-11 in Union Square

Several great restaurants, affordable enough for students, from Around the Clock to Dojo

A great gay bar called Dick's

Several clothing stores, from The Gap to a sports clothing place

Kmart

Three different bookstores

CBGBs, The Ritz (which turned into Webster Hall), and several bars

The best cheese shop in the village.

4,5,6, L, N, R trains all within a few blocks

I could go on and on. You would never need to leave a five block radius in that area (unless you wanted to see Broadway shows). I loved it. You could see things changing (for the worse) as the decade wore on, and now it's nothing like it used to be. But for a few years, it was the best neighborhood in the city. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a subway stop closer to my apartment on the days it was raining heavily. (I lived in Chelsea for a couple years and the 1 train was pretty much right next to my building). Oh I miss those days.

[quote]Several video stores, from Blockbuster to Kim's

Kim’s had a nice selection of indy videos but some of the staff were rude beyond belief. They must have been film majors who didn’t have trust funds.

I took the videos home, not the staff.

[quote] I took the videos home, not the staff.

That’s too bad, I heard Mr. Kim was quite the demon in bed.

[quote] We have a Target newly opened on UES, and it strikes me as "meh".

Because Target is "meh." They seem to have made bland an artform. The only time they are interesting is when they do a limited edition partnership with a designer or luxury brand.

[quote] There was one in the Citicorp Building as well.

I loved that one, IIRC, it closed not too long after it opened. I took my son to the Christmas train show there and bought a set of train chimes for the Christmas tree

R146: those were the days. Adding to your list;

The St. Mark's Cinema ($3.00 double feature);

The Strand Bookstore;

the original Barnes & Noble (which got its start buying and reselling used text books);

The Cookery - I saw the legendary Alberta Hunter's opening night comeback. The nightclub eventually closed, becoming BB-Q, and the great Barney Jacobson stayed on to work the door. Sadly, few of the new patrons recognized the great showman;

The Knickebocker;

1/5;

Marie Callendar's;

Patricia Field's;

Four and Plenty (pie shop);

Reminisce (next door to Danskin dancewear shop) ...

What was the recording studio on 8th Street off Sixth Avenue? I remember seeing Daryl Hall stumble out of there one afternoon (likely due more to too-tight jeans and/or high heeled boots than to mind altering substances).

8th Street was a wonderland of book stores back then.

Ahhhh.....

Speculation watch: What's next for the K-Mart space on Astor Place?

Jaclyn weeps...

[quote] That’s too bad, I heard Mr. Kim was quite the demon in bed.

I actually worked in one of the Kim's Video annexes in the early 90s, the one that was on 2nd Ave off St. Mark's Place. It was on the 2nd floor of an apartment building and had a storefront entrance where you went up a very narrow set of stairs to get into the store, and a back door where you entered from the main apt bldg entrance itself. I used to open the store on weekday mornings in the summer when I was finished with school for the year.

The store was a very weird layout. It was like a twisty railroad apartment (sort of) and the porn sections were all the way in the back. There were so many areas of the store that could not be seen from the front counter. But also, if you were putting boxes back from videos that had been returned, you couldn't see the front counter, nor could you hear if anyone had come into the store, which made it very difficult to do too much if you were the only one working, as I usually was.

Our direct boss was this Middle Eastern guy named C.C. and he had an apartment in the building. You were never allowed to contact him face to face or verbally, and after he hired me, I never actually saw him again. But if you needed to communicate with him, you had to write a note and leave it in your cash drawer at the end of your shift. However, he would call us during our shifts and yell at us to do something if we were standing at the front counter. I'd pick up the phone, "Kim's," and this loud, accented voice would scream at me, "WHY YOU NO STRAIGHTEN? STRAIGHTEN!!" (Meaning go straighten the boxes on the shelves.) The place was a fucking dump, and we were paid shit (but allowed all the free rentals we wanted), and he wanted us doing something every minute of the day.

I would say to him- C.C., I'm the only one here. If someone comes in, or if the phone rings, I can't hear it if I'm in the back straightening (that's how maze-like this fucking store was). So every time I heard any little noise, I had to come running back up to the front just in case.

My first week there, I wondered how C.C. had such an uncanny knack for knowing when I was at the front counter just standing there until a co-worker told me the entire store was wired with hidden cameras and all C.C. did all day was sit in his apartment, do coke and watch us.

My mother worked part time at kmart for a few years . My brother and I used to love going to see her at work and get a hamburger and fries at the cafe. We never ate out back then (it was the 60s) so it was a real treat . I always used to order a strawberry milkshake,and my dad would get so pissed cause it was .25 cents instead of .15 for a soda.

Finally a thread the LSA Cunts & Trans Activists won’t dare enter

Damn this Kmart and really both of them served a real need and were also kind of like a secret. There was a stretch where certain people wouldn’t be caught dead in a Kmart it was like social suicide but also they were just not on a lot of peoples radar in the city.

Target is ok I guess but it’s still more expensive than Kmart.

It's too bad Target is already moving in five blocks north, because this would be a great space for them to have a semi-traditional store.

The City Target format stores are better than nothing, but the selection is so limited.

K-mart's hasty exit from Astor Place likely means landlord threw them out of the place. It also could (and likely does) mean Vornado Realty has another tenant lined up, or at least very interested.

FaceBook is out because they already have enough space in 770 Broadway, and aren't planning on fully ending WFH anytime soon.

Target is opening a new place at former Food Emporium space at Zeckendorf Towers at Union Square.

Wouldn't surprise one at least if NYU moves into that space. They already have pretty much taken over Astor Place/8th Street/Greenwich Village area, what's one more bit of real estate.

R155

Don't know who Kim got that "middle eastern" manager from, but the man himself was a Korean immigrant who started his first video store in part of a laundromat he owned.

People still mourn loss of Kim's stores, and his collection of videos as well. A city in Sicily won a deal to purchase entire collection of Kim's inventory, but under condition it remain intact and available to members. Latter never happened nor seems likely to in near future.

NYT covered ending of an "era" as last of Kim's stores shut down.

Apparently Kim's dealt in quite a lot of bootleg videos which prompted frequent raids by FBI.

What many lamented about closing of Kim's last store wasn't just that fact, but what they saw as end of downtown culture as they knew and loved.

By 2014 SoHo, Bowery, Tribeca, East Village, Lower East Side... all had experienced huge waves of gentrification, and more was (and is) still coming. Everyone thought Saint Mark's Place and rest of EV wouldn't go way of say West Village, but it did and more is the pity.

r146 Seems like there's one major necessity missing from your list-- a grocery store. (And 7-11 doesn't count.)

Ha! You're right, R165. When I wrote a huge 7-11 in Union Square, I meant a huge A&P. (And apparently it turned into a Food Emporium before it closed down.) Sorry about that!

Seems to me Greenwich and West Village have always been more about small shops then actual large supermarkets.

Balducci's

Citarella's

Joe’s Dairy

Westside Market

R163 they didn’t have anything better to do?

I remember U2 was even inside this Kmart! They announced their Popmart tour or whatever the fuck it was called...it's been donkey years.

R167, isn't Balducci's closed?

The whole foods in union sq sucks ass

R170

Yes, the last Manhattan Balducci's closed back in 2009, but the name lives on outside of city.

My point was that both Greenwich and West Village historically were more about small shops than huge supermarkets.

I mean what passes for a supermarket in much of Manhattan is a joke compared to say even Staten Island, Queens, or much of Brooklyn.

this whole area went downhill...avoid if you can help it.

The only place in the area I still go to is Strand.

R171

Once Jeff Bezos and Amazon got their mitts on Whole Foods things went straight down hill not long afterwards. Nothing has improved either, and in fact things seem to be getting worse as Amazon and WF are bundled ever more tightly together. Another reason why stick with Wegmans for bulk of my shopping.

Balducci's couldn't hack it, but yet Citarella's and Agata and Valentina managed to survive.

A&V did close their University Place store last year, another victim of covid. But their UES and NJ stores are doing well.

1970's (or a bit before) through 1980's Greenwich and West Village where wonderful places. You still had that "old New York" feeling when there, and the areas truly were almost self contained. You could find nearly anything needed within a few block radius of your house/apartment. True sometimes had to venture further away but usually not past 14th street.

That happened here ages ago.

Lost riches. You think this is sad, let's talk the glories of Lost Aleppo.

With the increasing prices in NYC and wages that aren't keeping up, you'll all be going to Walmart soon.

[quote]One could spend an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon going to places like Antique Boutique, Tower Records, Nationwide Warehouse …

The store you were referring to, which was Broadway, was called National Wholesale Liquidators. NWL closed most of their other East Coast stores about three years ago. At least two Fridays a month I would always shop there. They carried brand names and not the usual cheap Made in China garbage now being sold in other liquidator stores.

At NWL, I bought a two pot Farberware set for only $20! NWL carried brand name sheets, towels, sneakers ($7 for leather Converse!) and overall, the prices were incredibly low for top-notch name brand items.

I never understand why these stores, which, on appearance, seemed to be doing extremely well, got out of business.

NWL, Odd Lot, Odd Job and Webers (in the Village there was a Webers across from Crazy Eddie) go out of business, it makes little sense.

A few month ago, after I went to the DMV, I stopped at Jack's. This store was amazing, not anymore. Jack's doesn't appear to carry the quality brand names they once did. During Jack's glory days, the entire first floor, every item was $1 and the items were not junk. I got Plaztgraaf creamers, beautiful cobalt blue tumblers, silk Symphony scarves for my female relatives (I added these scarves to Xmas gifts) and other great items.

Jack's also carried European versions of US shampoos and other toiletries. Why would anyone pay full price at Diane Reade, when you could get a full size bottle of name brand body wash at Jack's for $1?

From what I recently observed, the current quality of items at Jacks are no longer great deals. In fact, the items on both floors aren't anything special. There also seem to be less items. I remember the dizzying array of stuff Jack's sold, not anymore.

In fact, Jack's prices now seem as high as department store prices. The only items they carried which was would be deemed 'cheap' were their red cloth shopping bags, IIRC, they were 40¢ for a large bag, not bad.

When I shopped in the Village, I'd also stop at Hudson News to pick up my British music magazines, then on to Tower and then met friends for dinner at the Cactus Cafe, also long gone. Cactus Cafe had great Mexican food at decent prices. The portions were so huge, I'd always end up taking home a 'doggie bag'. When the chef was overwhelmed with orders and the wait was a bit long for the food, the first drinks were always free.

I don’t know what happened to the Village, except the usual: "The gentrifiers and real estate assholes ruined yet another neighborhood."

The Village is no longer fun, all the cheap & cheerful stores are long gone. Great record stores like Vinyl Mania are long gone too. That store was opened forever. The person who owned the property, didn't even try to work out a deal with the record shop's owner, he simply said, the lease was up and he wanted the shop's owner, out. I don't even knw what replaced the store. It's likely shuttered due to the now outrageous rent.

There was another great record/CD shop on St. Mark's SOUNDS. I wasn't crazy about the service at Record Runner, most of the workers were smug and annoying, all 'experts'. The owner in particular was a total asshole, always rude even to regular customers. Not sure why having such a bad attitude can actually help a small business. Hope that dump closed.

Young people are now interested in vinyl, you have to wonder why so many record shops closed down, it's got to be mostly about the ridiculous rents in the Village. Many years ago, there were at least four-five independent record shops along 8th Street. Crazy Eddie on 7th also sold vinyl. Tower had three stores in the Village, the mai large stores, a video store and their annex was at the other end of the block from the main store. The Annex was amazing.

A lease doesn't last forever. Even if a record shop owner actually owns the building their indie stores are in, they see 💰💰then sell their properties.

There were so many fun stores on Broadway and on Eight Street. Is the Dojo restaurant still near NYU? I recall there was another Dojo on St. Marks.

During the time Tower first opened on Bwy, there was a short lived record shop on Broadway, their prices were much cheaper than Tower. This store carried mostly low priced British import LPs and 45. I got some amazing vinyl there. Lots of obscure HTF music too.

The fun vintage clothing accessories shop, Reminiscence was originally on MacDougal, then it moved to Avenue B, then Fifth Avenue, I think there was another move between those places. Seems it re-opened, but the current reviews are less than stellar.

[quote]I don’t know what happened to the Village, except the usual: "The gentrifiers and real estate assholes ruined yet another neighborhood."

Three words: NYU

The funny thing is that NYU didn't seem to care that the neighborhood was gentrifying, which I don't understand. They seemed to be only interested in their personal expansion but not preserving the neighborhood. Everything in the neighborhood would have been of interest to their student body. All those great clothing stores like Canal Jeans and Unique Clothing Wearhouse. What purpose did it serve to allow them to be pushed out and replaced by national chains? I think NYU had the power to slow down the progress in Greenwich Village but decided not to use it.

It's also like the shops on Bleecker Street. Up through the 90s, many were antique stores run by aging gay men. There was also the Erotic Baker and Condomania. All that's gone now and high end stores moved in. The funny thing is that you never see people in these stores. Did Christopher Street really need an empty Rag & Bone store?

R181

Yes, NWL was the place!

NWL does have a stores in Brooklyn, Co-op City and a few others. These are under a new NWL run by a group of former managers who bought NWL intellectual and other rights out of bankruptcy.

NWL website

I remember that NWL on Broadway just north of Houston; it was TJMaxx before TJMaxx. I used to shop there and then have a soulful meal at Ajax, where I once saw Cher's bagel boy Rob Camilletti and his father sharing a booth.

"bagel boy Rob Camilletti "

Hard to believe Rob Camilletti is 57 years old now. He's a commercial pilot for private jets, and apparently still remains good friends with Cher.

[quote] where I once saw Cher's bagel boy Rob Camilletti and his father sharing a booth.

It would've been more fun spotting them sharing a booth in an adult bookstore video arcade.

[quote]Three words: NYU The funny thing is that NYU didn't seem to care that the neighborhood was gentrifying, which I don't understand. They seemed to be only interested in their personal expansion but not preserving the neighborhood. Everything in the neighborhood would have been of interest to their student body. All those great clothing stores like Canal Jeans and Unique Clothing Wearhouse. What purpose did it serve to allow them to be pushed out and replaced by national chains? I think NYU had the power to slow down the progress in Greenwich Village but decided not to use it. It's also like the shops on Bleecker Street. Up through the 90s, many were antique stores run by aging gay men. There was also the Erotic Baker and Condomania. All that's gone now and high end stores moved in. The funny thing is that you never see people in these stores. Did Christopher Street really need an empty Rag & Bone store?

It seems logic is lost on so many these days, then again, everything is about money. I agree, of course, the NYU students would have shopped in all those now closed stores, tourists also loved the Village.

The Village is now one big NYU campus.

Maybe they'll put in a Two Guys

R48 Conrans on the East Side was on 1st Ave by the bridge. TJMaxx has the space now.

[quote]NWL website

I had no idea NWL was still open in certain neighborhoods, I was told they complete went out of business.

I enjoyed shopping in their stores, I only shop online for certain things. Unless I wanted to buy something I needed to scrutinize, I guess I would order from NWL. However, items like sneakers etc, I'd need to try on.

I used to love to shop at all the vintage clothing stores along Broadway. There was a smaller one that was between 13th & 14th where I got my first leather motorcycle jacket and my first winter long coat. That was my fave place. But I also used to go to the much bigger one that was down Bway near the Tower Records. I bought a ton of vintage jeans that were nicely worn. Those were the days. Pre-bedbugs.

yes, NYU demolished a lot of old buildings and rebuilt new modern ones...but they kept those ugly soviet looking apt blocks near the angelica. They should have been torn down!

yes, NYU definitely ruined the village.

Memories! Unique Boutique.

yep, remember shopping at Canal Jean co. on b'way...

While certainly deserving of their share of scorn, NYU wasn't sole cause of Greenwich Village and what is now called "NoHo" gentrifying. Early as middle of 1980's forces were already at work reshaping lower Broadway from say 14th to Canal. It was same forces that also were already at work in the new neighborhoods of "SoHo" and "Tribeca". Money discovered and people began going down there, and rest as they say is history.

Union Square/14th street to north was being gussied up as well. No one thought anyone would move into Zeckendorf Towers, but they did. And those same forces slowly but surely transformed 14th street from Broadway east towards 7th and 8th avenues right over to West Street.

[quote]Memories! Unique Boutique.

I still have my Unique Clothing Warehouse button!

Gentrification isn't the problem , it's something else. These storefronts are empty for months and sometimes years.

[quote] But Target is making inroads all over Manhattan—they're going in a few blocks north at Union Square—

Well it looks like I won’t be visiting Manhattan for the shopping

R200

Gentrification lead all sorts of luxury goods and other upscale retail to flock downtown (below 14th street). That in turn put pressure on "old" SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca, Greenwich Village, West Village, etc... retailers as landlords jacked up rents, and or threw places out because they wanted to land higher rent paying tenants.

No one predicted growth of online however, and to what extent it would affect even high end luxury retail. Online is also killing that other once sacred cow of NYC real estate; banks. For a few decades they were opening everywhere, you couldn't fling a dead cat without hitting a new bank branch. Landlords were thrilled! Now it turns out more and more are banking online, so banks don't need all those physical branches.

There is still a fuck ton of money from Chelsea south to Fidi or Union Square down to NoHo and beyond. They just have changed their spending habits.

Other thing of course is those who bought those old properties down there also paid a fuck ton of money, most of it in debt. They can lower both commercial and residential rents but so low because they must service debt loads.

All this being said retail rents are down on average nearly 11% from last year, and deals are happening.

Thanks, R192, for the actual Conran's address.

I have to correct my post at R187; the restaurant was called "Acme," not Ajax. I wonder if it's still there as I haven't visited the old neighborhood in ages.

This is a great thread; thank you, OP!

r203=Wile E. Coyote

R204: 😂

Acme is no longer there R203, and Great Jones Cafe across the street hung on until 2018 when the owner died. Do you remember the music venue Under Acme that was, well, under Acme; and Fez which was a swanky "middle eastern" bar / venue behind the nearby Time Cafe? My EV favorite was the Korova Milk Bar, styled to look like the set in Clockwork Orange.

I remember eating at Acme (back when it was serving southern food) and visiting under acme! One of the apts in the building was supposed to be a celeb afterparty hangout.

I don't recall ever returning in the evening to go "Under Acme," R206, but I must have if only out of curiosity. I'll have to jiggle my memory.

I do remember Acme displaying/serving a huge assortment of bottled hot sauces. Then there was Paul Prudhomme's restaurant which opened around the corner on Broadway.

Returning to Astor Place, does anyone remember the Japanese restaurant upstairs from 'Round The Clock?" We were celebrating New Year's Eve there when somebody came in saying Ricky Nelson had died in a plane crash. The festive atmosphere never resumed that night.

I believe the rumor going around the neighborhood that the replacement will actually be a Wegman’s, a massive grocery store. I went to the one near Syracuse a few times.

yes, I remember that Japanese restaurant, it's next to sunrise mart (still there).

That shopping area is depressing.

I remember the Japanese restaurant above Around the Clock. We never went there (and we went to AOC all the time for years). I always wondered how it stayed in business because it never seemed anyone was going in there.

Acme changed several years ago. It used to be Southern Comfort (po boy sandwich) casual. It closed and remodeled and went upscale Cajun. I was a regular at the old Acme but I never went in the new Acme because I didn’t like anything on the menu.

Latest news from NYC, and hold onto your hats dearies....

K-Mart got the push because LL has a new tenant already lined up, and word is will be a supermarket...

Given the huge size of that Astor Place property only a few serious players could make that happen, and odds are betting on Wegmans!

Wegmans is famous for not doing small stores, hence their only location in NYC is out at Brooklyn Navy Yard. However 770 Broadway ticks many boxes.... It's right in a very high income demographic of not just Manhattan, but Greenwich Village, West Village, Union Square, Gramercy Park, Tribeca etc... Really much of Manhattan depending upon how far someone wishes to travel. Oh and there's a subway stop right at basement entrance, or at Astor Place as well.

Having a grocery store where people can shoplift items and run right onto a getaway subway train is another reason Wegmans won't be taking over this space

R215 Wasn't that the reason Gimbals in Herald Square was the most shoplifted store in the world, before it closed.

Even K-Mark long since stopped using that subway level entrance/exit. Especially after they began getting stingy with employees and refused to staff that area with one or more security guards.

Meanwhile main entrance/exit on Astor Place for years had security staffed during hours store was open.

As for shoplifting in general some of you just don't live here do you? Every store in NYC, in particular Manhattan were long being jacked even before BLM rioters took things to another level.

In particular Duane Reade, Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, and similar places are jacked with frequency from time they open to closing. People walk out of these places with carts or arms full of stuff on nearly an hourly basis.

Things have gotten so bad in many areas of Manhattan including UES that NYPD stations patrol cars in front of said stores during business hours with lights flashing as a deterrent. It really doesn't work because people still steal. At least on UES there is no longer any 24/7 pharmacy/Duane Reade/CVS type store. Every single one of them now are closed by 11PM or maybe 2AM until 7AM or 8AM next business day.

Back on topic this Astor Place location would be idea for Wegmans because again it ticks many boxes. There is only *one* main street level exit/entrance which can easily be staffed with security to deter shoplifters.

I've never witnessed any of the actions depicted at R217. Where the hell do you live, boo?!

R216: Do you remember the overpass on 34th Street connecting Macys and Gimbels? Or am I experiencing false recall?

Am not now nor ever was your "boo", or any such other horrid term.

If you don't know shoplifting in NYC has seen huge uptick in activity over past few years then *you* must not live here; that or don't leave your space under a bridge or something.

Also

And also....

Yet more....

NYPD says....

At least one major ring taken down, but just like rats there are plenty more to take their place.

Maybe Wegmans will put the eating area by the subway entrance.

R218 Not sure, I've never actually lived in NYC, just visited. And, by the time I first visited Gimbels was long gone, sadly.

Thanks, R226.

[quote]Am not now nor ever was your "boo", or any such other horrid term.

Apparently I misspelled "santorum" in addressing you, R219.

You can stop posting links to rightwing NYC rags; we ignored you the first time.

P.S. Oh, dear!

R228, I'm not R219, but since when is NBC NY a "right wing rag"?? If you are referring to the Our Town link, when did that local NYC free newspaper become a right wing rag?

WTF?

R229 To many people on here I'm sure anything to the right of People's World is a "right wing rag."

Let me get this correct, OP: you want us to weep because a large KMart is closing in Manhattan.

A [italic]KMart.[/italic]

I’ve been kidnapped by Kmart!

For you, R218

Thanks, R233!

In Koch's New York City, classy people rode the subway!

Told you so!

2023? That’s a long way off.

It took Wegmans a few years to get that store Brooklyn Navy Yard up and going.

This is NYC baby, where everything costs more to do and is more complicated than most anywhere else.

Designs have to be made and approved by Wegmans, then various permits secured from city before construction can even begin.... But first there will be demolition of previous interior space (gutting), which is a whole other ball of wax. Trader Joe's takes awhile to open new stores once a location is announced as well.

Oh NO! A Famous Footwear outlet is closing in Peoria!

**weeps dramatically along with OP**

I've always felt that "Kmart" was a terrible name for a business. It just sounds trashy. It's possible to sell cheap merchandise without a trashy name. Target is not much better. Wegmans, on the other hand, sounds wholesome. Names are important. Kmart was doomed from the start.

A Wegmans is going to open up in the former Kmart location at Astor Place.

So what is in the old Union Square space that used to house a ginormous A&P (and I think went to a Food Emporium after, but I had left NYC by that point)? That was a such a great space for a grocery store. I also hate two floor grocery stores. Hopefully they will put one of those trolley escalators on there.

Uhhh, R236, I actually beat you to it. I was the first to mention the rumor going around it was going to be a Wegmans.

[quote] Kmart was doomed from the start.

And it only lasted 60 years 🙄

[quote] So what is in the old Union Square space that used to house a ginormous A&P (and I think went to a Food Emporium after,

I heard that Target was considering that space.

[quote] Wegmans, on the other hand, sounds wholesome

It sounds like a Jewish deli on the Lower East Side. Schmaltz for your matzoh ball soup. Knishes half price Fridays after 2 pm. Cheapest prices on lox.

R246 Ethnic, but still wholesome. A family business with some expectation of freshness. "Mart" with any prefix screams cheap crap from China, with unlimited shelf life and no taste. "Mart" should be avoided in a business name.

[quote]I've always felt that "Kmart" was a terrible name for a business.

The 'K' comes from Kresge, the variety store brand that started Kmart. Just like the 'Wal' in Walmart is from Walton. There were also similar spinoffs like MurphyMart (from G.C. Murphy), Grant City (W.T. Grant), Woolco (Woolworth's), et. al.

I love Wegman's. I wish we had something similar in southern California.

We can't wait!

First, sidewalk dining sheds and now a below- and above-street level Wegman's? Uptown and down, eastside and west - we're gonna OWN Manhattan!

-- The Prolific Pizza Rat Clan

P.S. Do they keep veal in their deli department? (asking for a friend).

Even Zaire became TJ Maxx

^^ Zayre became Ames.

It's been said few times in this thread, Target is taking over former Food Emporium space at Union Square East.

Food Emporium brand name and other rights were bought from A&P during their huge bankruptcy by Key Food Co-op supermarket group.

[quote]I love Wegman's. I wish we had something similar in southern California.

Don't you have those fabulous Gelson's markets?

NYC needs a Buc-ee's, y'all.

I don't really get the love for Wegman's. Can someone explain it? I've only been once.

This is big and much welcomed news.

Greenwich Village area doesn't have a decent full sized supermarket other than what's on Union Square.

Might even shake up Whole Foods and Trader Joe's on Union Square.

Is the Grand Union supermarket on LaGuardia Place still open?

Wegman’s is a wonderful grocer. They also treat their employees well. Win-win for NYC.

Grand Union went bankrupt years ago. NYU bought that space and installed Morton Williams as new supermarket.

Again Wegmans will be a noticeable improvement for the area.

[quote]Even Zaire became TJ Maxx

No. Zaire became the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

r254 Gelson's stores are nothing like Wegman's. MUCH smaller, and upscale/expensive. Wegman's stores are huge and have mainstream stuff and upscale gourmet items too.

[quote] NYU bought that space and installed Morton Williams as new supermarket.

NYU was going to build there which would have closed Morton Williams. What became of that idea?

Absolutely never got the Wegman's obsession. My local has a terrible selection, they push their own brand.

[quote]Zayre became Ames.

No, Ames bought some Zayre stores, but Zayre became TJ Maxx. Zayre wanted to buy out Marshalls in the 70s but couldn't. So Zayre made a clone called TJ Maxx. When Zayre stores became unprofitable, they unloaded what they could (mostly to Ames but some to KMart or Venture) and changed the name of the company to TJ Maxx. TJ Maxx later bought Marshalls.

I saw ricky martin at that Grand Union supermarket. It was open 24 hours and we were both shopping there after 1 am.

Smart location for an upscale supermarket. No competition in the immediate vicinity, include Whole Foods in Union Square.

R268, Wegman's is an upscale supermarket?

Thanks, R260.

r269 see r263

R264

If you mean NYU's "2031" expansion plan far as one knows that still is in play.

When or if they will ever get around to 103 Bleeker street I do not know.

It really is too bad, NYU almost dominates RE from Greenwich Village down through NoHo and Tribeca. They are literally everywhere. You see NYU students far south as City Hall/FiDi area.

For all intents and purposes 8th Street now is just one huge extension of NYU's campus.

[quote]Wegman's is an upscale supermarket?

Some people think charging $9.99 a lb for the salad bar means upscale.

Whole Foods charges more.

Being from Buffalo I grew up with Wegmans so I know the store quite well. The Brooklyn store is one of the lower end stores and on the small side. It's not big enough to have much beyond Wegmans own brand and it's even a limited selection of their own brand. The type of grocery shopping that is done in NYC is typically much smaller orders than is done in most grocery stores, so I don't expect that this one on Astor Pl. will be a stellar example of a Wegmans. With that said, it'll still be a 1000 times better than any existing grocery store in

Whole Foods is shit since Amazon took over. That Union Square store gets lots of customers from 8th street north to 14th because there really aren't many other options. Less so now that Food Emporium (by whatever owners) now is gone.

Thus this new Wegmans may surely shake up Whole Foods Union Square. Those living between say Fifth (or even Sixth) and Third will have a nice big new supermarket on par with or even better than WF.

Bonus points just like US subway stops right at Astor Place....

Again those who really are going to benefit are residents of NoHo and GV south of 8th street. Besides that Morton Williams at NYU there really isn't any sort of decent supermarket. Tribeca? East Village.

Only major supermarket know if in Tribeca is a Whole Foods all the way over near West Side Highway.

[quote]Being from Buffalo

Means that you are white trash and your opinion has no value.

the whole foods in union sq is shit.

WF has always been overrated. Wegman's has first rate bakery, deli, prepared foods, etc. and knows how to stock regular groceries. They're taking over a huge space and will need to do enormous volumes to make it work, which they probably will accomplish.

[quote]knows how to stock regular groceries.

They favor their own brand, not "regular" groceries.

[quote] They favor their own brand, not "regular" groceries.

Why can’t NYC have a store that sells regular brands. We already have Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s going their own way.

I happened to walk past there today and snapped this:

Gonna be awhile before the shop opens. Makes a lot of sense for the area. Near the 6, N and R, M3 and M 8 and within walking distance of Union Square.

Wegmans expert speaking. Their private label stuff is the best in the business and almost always superior to national brands. The stores are all things to all people. Upscale/downscale/bulk. I doubt the bulk sections designed to compete with Costco will be in Manhattan since Brooklyn has very little of it

Meanwhile, here in Hell's Kitchen we are within walking distance of at least six supermarket chains.

Imps eating and living large.

A lot of the older building owners aren’t holding out for higher rent…..they’re holding out for the buildings on either side of them to go out of business, then all 3 of them will get offered tons of money by developers who will knock down all 3 buildings & put up a highrise.

[quote]Their private label stuff is the best in the business and almost always superior to national brands.

Yeah, I wouldn't agree at all.

How sad that Greenwich Village and many other parts of NYC have essentially turned into suburban malls filled with generic stores, over-priced designer brands, smug rich people and other annoying flyovers and ex-pats.

Ironic, how these same people seem to have no clue they are the ones who have ruined so many NYC neighborhoods. When I overhear conversations by people complaining how 'their' once affordable interesting neighborhoods have changed so drastically, these complaints are usually spoken by the exact same people who have caused these extreme changes.

there is a gristedes on university and 8th street. I think around 10th street and university, it used to be a d'agostino supermarket. there used to be a couple of korean delis on university place as well.

yep that whole area has changed so much.

Who needs a fancy Kmart when we got them super great real american walmarts. I just wish only white folk was allowed to shop there.

That Gristedes is like every other; very high prices for questionable quality goods. It survives because more by default lack of other options than anything else IMHO. Between local residents and NYU staff and students it has a captive natural market.

DAG is now owned by Gristedes (part of Red Apple Group), and there has been some reshuffling. Former DAG stores becoming Gristedes, and vice versa. Think idea is to position DAG as something more upscale....

You have basically a few flavors of people down in West and Greenwich Village.

Old timers who nabbed rent regulated apartments ages ago and thus are paying rather low rents to live in what has become one of the hottest areas of Manhattan.

Then you have those who have "some" money that bought down there when prices where low to reasonable for co-ops or townhouses.

Beating them all and incurring most anger nowadays are those with serious money like Mark Zuckerberg, Sarah Jessica Parker and others scooping up one or even two townhouses (to convert into one grand maison), or perhaps same for co-op apartments.

There long has been money down there, Greenwich Village from Washington Square Park north to 14th and from Sixth avenue to west and Third going east comes to mind. But nothing like what you see down there today.

Much if not all of the working/middle class (largely Irish, Italian but others) that once gave West Village and Greenwich Village a certain flavor is largely long gone. Those were the people who got involved with Jane Jacobs to thwart Robert Moses from plowing a highway through Washington Square Park

[quote]That Gristedes is like every other; very high prices for questionable quality goods.

There’s also a Gristedes at Sheridan Square which is the same: ridiculously high prices. I’ve lived in the West Village since the early 90s and I’ve watched all the mom & pop grocery stores shut down and the chains raise their prices. Thanks for screwing us over Michael Bloomberg!

Woo! Good one r277. BTW, you might want to let the estate of Johnny Carson know you're using some of his classic material from his 1970s monologues for your anonymous zingers on a third rate discussion website.

Well, I guess that R5’s post explains how I scored my Chanel for so little!

eBay?

3 words for you:

Tsk, tsk, tsk… 😒 👜

I think the merger with Sears just accelerated the demise of both Kmart and Sears. They're retail from last century and making them compete against each other was stupid.

And regard the open theft I worked for CVS as a manager and we paid to have a police detail in our store.