The Food Emporium — Local services in New York

meh.

grocery shopping on a drizzly monday morning around 10:30am ... store light with shoppers but active with staff stocking shelves ...

as i was looking for frozen pearl onions in the frozen cases, i asked the the clerk stocking nearby for assistance and he came over (leaving a good gap between us) and as he also perused the shelves another clerk rounded the corner, asked his co-worker what was up and proceeded to tell us that the item wouldn't be in stock till tomorrow ... i thanked them for the help and info and they in turn acknowledged the gratitude.

i continued shopping and although i am familiar with the layout of the store a few items i could not find (lo carb tortillas and matzo ball mix) so i thought to ask the next clerk i saw ... this happened to be a person that i assume was doing inventory of the canned beer/cider case as that what it appeared they were doing... i stood about six feet away and waited for either a gap in the inventory process or an acknowledgement ... the gap did come, more than once, but no acknowledgement ... so i moved on to the customer service desk which is right around the corner. i stood there for a bit as it wasn't manned at the moment and watched cashiers not cashier as like i said the store was light with traffic. eventually this got old so i proceeded to check out.

as the cashier was scanning my items i couldn't help but reflect on my experience ... nothing egregious but looking around all i saw and all that i experienced save for the first two were staff looking down, no eye contact, no acknowledgement. and that's a tough thing to write in these times because i can't imagine the stress of having to work in an enclosed public space. i'm stressed going in but I know i'll be right out so i can't imagine an eight hour shift ...

and right as i'm thinking this the cashier/clerk in the next aisle is right up against me and then I remember when i first walked in and was checking the sushi case, the sushi chef walked right up and started stocking so I passed on the sushi and moved to the meat case only to have to dodge the meat clerk barreling down the aisle which put me face to face with a store notice that read to the effect "prices may not match at checkout sorry" ...

so, if you read this far, i originally summarized my experience with a "meh." but the owner/manager asked for details so there you go.

finally, added one star for reaching out.

note tho that i skipped costello and abbot bit with mussels by the bag / mussels by the pound at the...

I went here for the first time today. It was well organized and clean. Great selection of produce, meats, cheeses, and pantry items. Smaller selection frozen goods but the basics are all there. It's a little cramped and narrow but that's mostly to be expected in this area.

The prices initially seemed a bit on the higher end compared to other places I've been recently, however there were multiple little sales going that helped bring it back down, so if you shop smartly you can very easily stay on budget. The sale signs all said "with club card" so when I got to checkout I asked to sign up for one, but the checker just scanned one they had there instead. So I still got the deal, but I guess I'll have to sign up another time, as I didn't see the option on their website either. (ETA a week later, I was able to find the sign up on the website so got my loyalty card! They have digital coupons you can clip as well as a weekly circular that tells you what's on sale, very helpful for budgeting and planning your shopping)

That being said, I got five potatoes, a bag of pasta mix, a bag of rice, two cans of beans, two bags of shredded cheese, and a quart of ice cream all for under $25, which is not bad at all considering it's NYC + tariffs.

The staff was friendly as well, as I unloaded my little basket I was looking around for where to put it and a staff member who was passing by said "oh I'll grab that for you!" which was nice as it gave me a second to pull out my reusable bags.

I went on a Sunday evening and there was not a line, which was also nice! Definitely a good place to stop in for...

On 8/22/2024 time 17:13:36

Her name is ....Bianka she is always very unpleasant but on this date she took it to far. She never asked me if I need a items for my groceries I bought or even asked I'd I needed her to pack them. That I was ok with because she is always rude but on this day. She pushed my items down the register to check out. I had my hand waiting for my receipt and she placed my receipt on the counter as if I was an animal,instead of in my hand. I told her I will tell her manager she stated she did not care. After that I pulled my phone out and as you can see she stated the same thing again. Noticed to was packing the person after me groceries. I wont say this is a race thing but ....she is very unprofessional. I only went thus day bec I needed some items at the last minute. I told the manager or who ever he was about this and he smiled and agreed to return the items. Not once did he apologize to me for how I was treated. Smh once again her...