Central Markets — Local services in New York

STAY AWAY!!! If i can give this supermarket 0 stars I would!!!

First incident was when my husband came home and expressed how he felt he was being watch and followed. Not sure if it was racially motivated because he's black but all races steal. You can't assume everyone is the same, especially when my husband has been a customer for years. He even asked the owner why he was following him and he immediately said he wasn't which was a lie.

Second incident is when they're rushing people to get to the register because they're about to close and as I'm standing on line, one of the staff members is directing people to go to different registers. If all registers are full and people are waiting behind me, it's common sense to wait for the next available register to ring me up instead of being assigned to a register that's still ringing someone up. The staff member got upset and started making people skip me on purpose.

Third incident was when I accidentally dropped a bottle of baby food and it broke. Even though I offered to clean it myself, that guy Alex got an attitude and said "just be more careful next time" as if I deliberately threw the bottle on the floor when it was an accident. Then he gets upset when the young kid at the register calls him over to fix something he rung up because I had forgotten the the WIC changed 32 bottles of baby food to 16. I got 32 because I forgot. He got so upset that he started going back and forth with me even AFTER I apologized for my mistake and offered to put the other 16 bottles back. Like it's not that serious. Then he accused me of saying something I didnt. He turned around and said that"he wasn't born yesterday and he heard what I said". Im like, what is wrong with this man?

Fourth incident is when I feel I'm being watched by the staff all the time. It's really uncomfortable. I shop there all the time so why would you feel like something is going to happen.

Fifth incident is when I bought 2 loafs of bread and they had holes in it so the bread was hard. I decided to return it and exchange it for another 2 loafs of bread. The lady at the register already knows who I am and she had rung me up the day before so she knows who I am. I didnt have my receipt but since they know me, I figured it would be a quick exchange. On the contrary, when she explained to the manager what happened, the manager said that the bread was fine and she feels the bag soft. I asked her if she ate or tried the bread to come to those conclusions? She also said that the holes in the bag are from people grabbing it. Well, thats not my problem. She said I can only get a store credit. Which is fine because if she would've listened to me, the customer, then she would've known that all I wanted to do was exchange it. She was rude as hell to the point where she cut me off while I was talking and said "Goodbye" with an attitude. I'm an educated woman and I don't need Animals like her talking to me or anyone like that so I decided to just leave instead of making a scene.

Some of the things that are wrong with this store are the following:

-Unfriendly and extremely rude staff members that need proper training on how to deal with customers -staff members always making you uncomfortable by watching the cameras (cuz I've seen it) or following you. -overpriced items. -spoiled foods -expired foods or about to be expired sold at the same price.

Word of advice, STAY AWAY and just buy your stuff somewhere else. Being watched or followed like you're a thief or them giving you issues for a return or an exchange is wrong. I know its convenient when it's steps or close from home but not worth your time and money. And as you can see based off other reviews, I'm not the only one that has had a bad experience...

Small grocery, albeit pricey, with almost every you need, including beer and wine! Deli is average with hot and cold food selections. Cleaning supplies, desserts—including a great selection of chocolates, ice cream, meats (seafood, not so much), seasonings/spices, dairy, are always in stock. CM has a great selection of cheeses and the prices aren't too expensive.

After work lines can be reallyyyyyy bad and some shoppers are not familiar with waiting in line or standing on line.

CM is a typical NYC grocery store so the aisles aren't very wide. They do have the smaller "buggies" and wheeled baskets which are a big help, but I've seen some not so happy interactions between strollers, carts and staff trying to stock the shelves. There is ramp access to the store (ADA and shopping cart accessible), but again the aisles are tight. Although I appreciate having items in stock, it would be so much better for the customers if restocking was done in the early morning when the store isn't so busy!

What's more annoying than the tight aisles? Having store workers follow you around while you shop!!! Come on CM, FIND SOMETHING ELSE FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES TO DO. How about, install cameras and let your employees monitor them. This no longer happens to me (I guess they know my face), but it's still happening and it makes me uncomfortable.

The cashiers are friendly, they have weekly sales, they deliver and the...

I'm very disappointed. I just went across the street at 7:50 PM, since it clearly states that the store is open until 8 PM to pick up a quick chocolate gift for tomorrow morning, and they refused to let any one else in. Additionally, you open at 8 AM, that's quite late for most working people; the least you could do is keep your doors open for as long as your working hours state.

Being a main source of convenience for a lot of people means that there is a level of responsibility that must be upheld, especially with how expensive the prices are. I am well aware of that and am by no means complaining about the prices here, but there then needs to be some sort of positive trade off for the customer.

I went straight to West Side Market to get what I needed, and I will go up the hill for that consistency whenever I need something in the future.

You should change your working hours since people will count on you to keep your doors open for customers until 8...