January 18, 2006
Trader Joe's Joins Union Square Area Food Nexus
So, Trader Joe's will make its NYC debut with a location on East 14th Street. The NY Times reported that a spokeswoman the store would open around three month, "confirming a year's worth of reports that the national chain would join a growing list of food stores along 14th Street." Which made Gothamist wonder about the food stores along 14th Street. The article noted Whole Foods, Garden of Eden, Balducci's and the Greenmarket, but didn't add Food Emporium, which we wouldn't really consider a food store. Is 14th Street now the center of where you can get all sorts of semi-upscale food? Or do other locations give it a run for the money, like the Upper West Side's Broadway Belles (Fairway, Citarella, Zabar's)? Or will developing areas, like Red Hook take over?
The great news is that Trader Joe's will also open a separate wine store. Let's hope for another grape surplus year! We created a Wayfaring Map of 14th Street Groceries - we did include departed Western Beef, plus the Citarella a bit south of 14th, and did not include the Food Emporium just because.
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Did you just compare Whole Foods and Trader Joes to Citarella's and Zabar's? What an insult to New Yorkers who turn to this site for New York news. Whole Foods and Trader Joes is about as New York as the St. Louis Arch while Citarella's and Zabar's are institutions in this city.
Whoa!!! Two Buck Chuck, finally available in NYC!
Oh Benjamin, did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Don't knock the father of Two Buck Chuck until you've tried it.
trader giotto's is the best too. I love the frozen pizzas! and the chocolate covered bananas!
I hate these supermarket rumors! Someone asked if I had been to the new Whole Foods on Houston, and after I said I didn't think it was open, they assured me it was... Sunday morning, sure enough, Whole Foods: still closed.
Then following these Trader Joe's rumors, walked up to Union Square... and it's still 3 months away?! I cannot win.
"didn't add Food Emporium, which we wouldn't really consider a food store"
I guess it's just us poor peons who shop there, instead of the hip upscale Gothamist food shoppers?
Food Emporium totally overcharges (I'm a Fairway shopper and Fairway is usually less expensive) and is so gross! Food Emporium may seem proletarian, but it's not that great. I think the FE on Greenwich in Tribeca is pretty decent, though.
I wouldn't compare Whole Foods to Fairway, but in terms of having big grocery stores where you can get a great variety of food - including organic - than most stuff is game. I mean, Garden of Eden stinks too, but whatever.
Poor peons show at Food Emporium? FE is insanely overpriced. I spend less money when I go to Whole Foods.
I saw a mouse running through that Western Beef once. It looked very fresh.
i don't know what the western beef in that area was like, but the one on West End Ave is the absolute pits.
but you can't beat food emporium's jingle.
Nothin beats C-Town for bang for your buck, why don't gothamist wayfare C-town in Manhattan?!
Also Pathmart by the bridge is a close second.
"Did you just compare Whole Foods and Trader Joes to Citarella's and Zabar's? What an insult to New Yorkers who turn to this site for New York news. Whole Foods and Trader Joes is about as New York as the St. Louis Arch while Citarella's and Zabar's are institutions in this city."
[1] Posted by: Benjamin | January 18, 2006 01:59 PM
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Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are great!
And more encompassingly utilitarian than Citarella. (And Zabar's is uptown.)
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Whoa!!! Two Buck Chuck, finally available in NYC!
[2] Posted by: S | January 18, 2006 02:08 PM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do they still have Two-Buck Chuck? That would be surprising (but cool), since it was, I think, a closeout.
Re. Food Emporium -- just an expensive A&P.
"someone made a store just for me...
food emporium! food emporium!
la la la la guarenteed!
food emporium! food emporium!"
damn, i can't even remember all the words but thanks to you tien, i'm going to have that damn jingle stuck in my head all afternoon...
but tj's on 14th is for reals now? nice.
food emporium! food emporium!
what an awesome jingle.
Yes, but now Shop-Rite does the can-can . . .
Winn Dixie wants to be a part of your day, a part of your day ...
oh, wrong state
i couldn't think of the Food Emporium jingle but instead reached in my brain and grabbed.. the Empire carpet phone number jingle?? i didn't even know i had that in there! Thanks a LOT! :(
I grew up with Mr. D'Agostino moving too close to me...
there is a grocery store in my neighborhood that i think uses colored lights in the meat and produce departments to make things look... better? almost anything has got to be better! thank goodness for freshdirect...
Love that D'agostino . . . (But at A&P, they watch their Ps and Qs.)
Trader Joe's has some really good prices on stuff. In other cities they blow Whole Foods and some supermarket chains out of the water with their prices. They have some very good private label foods too. This is a very good thing!
Love that D'agostino, love that Dag Dag Dag
New York's winning food is in the Dag Dag Bag
Love those veggies
Love those meats
(Enough-ah-dis lovemaking,
whaddya say we eat?)
So please, Mr. D'Agostino
Move closer to me...
I never quite got it, but the store was great. Now that the BH store is gone, it's Fresh Direct for this omnivore. That and the Green Market.
Gee.
I remember it as, "Recipe for fun is in the D'ag, D'ag bag."
The downside - and part of the fun - of Trader Joe's is that they only have what they have. You can't count on the same thing being there the next time.
Someone made a store, just for me,
Food Emporium,
Food Emporium,
Someone knows my kind of quality,
Food Emporium,
Food Emporium!
Someone got the message,
That people like things better,
Even when they're shopping for
The simple things...
[This week at Food Emporium, blah, blah, et cetera].
(Disclaimer: I don't shop there, and my feelings are neutral on its prices/quality. Also, the last verse does not really make sense, but I'm pretty sure the lyrics are accurate. I just listen to too much radio).
don't forget the chelsea market - love that fish store. And the vegetable store. And the cat in the flower store. And the photos. HAte the wine store. Love the cakes. Love the bread. Love the cooking supply. Hate the meat (store).
If you have taste buds you will not like two buck chuck. No one should be sold as "It's good for its price."