Thousands of Upper East Siders will soon have to find another place to do their grocery shopping, as The Food Emporium’s UES supermarket, cafe and liquor store are all set to close permanently in the coming weeks, Upper East Site has confirmed.
According to multiple store employees, the The Food Emporium supermarket located at 1175 Third Avenue, between East 68th and 69th streets, will be shutting down forever at the end of March.
ALSO READ | Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys Still Plans to Open New UES Location Next Month
Inside the store on Thursday, Upper East Site found no signs or messages directly warning customers of the impending shut down, only fliers taped to freezer doors announcing that all frozen foods are 20% off. Similar fliers taped outside the building announce the same discount on wines and spirits.
Shelves inside the sprawling underground supermarket are speckled with empty spots, where products have sold out and not been restocked. The seafood and butcher counters appear to have already been abandoned.
Supermarket employees explained to Upper East Site that they were told that store’s lease had not been renewed by The Food Emporium’s parent company, Dan’s Supreme Supermarkets.
The 25,350 square foot space located on the ground and cellar levels of the Trump Palace condominium has already been listed by real estate agents, who tell Upper East Site they expect to have an announcement in the “near future.”
ALSO READ | Heavenly Cafe Finally Opens Completing Yorkville’s ‘Heavenly’ Trifecta
At this point, it is not clear whether The Food Emporium employees will be offered positions at other company-owned grocery stores when the Upper East Side location shuts down next month.
Under the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, businesses are required to file public notices with the state when mass layoffs are planned. No such WARN notice has been filed for The Food Emporium’s UES store.
Upper East Site reached out to Dan’s Supreme Supermarkets for more information, but did not hear back by time of publication.
For updates around the clock, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
