Gourmet Garage opens its fifth Manhattan location
Gourmet Garage opens its fifth Manhattan location
NEW YORK " Shoppers in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan have a new upscale supermarket from which to choose with the recent opening of the newest location of the small retail chain known as Gourmet Garage.
Like the four other stores in the chain " all located in Manhattan " fresh fruits and vegetables play perhaps the most important role in this newest store, located on Park Avenue and 96th Street in one of the city?s more fashionable neighborhoods.
The store, at around 5,000 square feet, is small by national standards although somewhat typical of Manhattan, where space is definitely at a premium. Fresh produce, however, accounts for about one-quarter of that space, according to Mark A. Antoch, manager of business development for RLB Food Distributors in West Caldwell, NJ, which supplies an estimated 97 percent of Gourmet Garage?s produce. RLB has been a supplier to Gourmet Garage for about 11 years and its primary supplier for about six years, he noted.
Indeed, fresh produce and fresh flowers are right at the entrance as shoppers come into the supermarket, a clear sign of the importance of this category to owners Andy Arons and Adam Hartman.
When The Produce News visited the store on March 14, the produce items offered to shoppers at the entrance included green and Flame seedless grapes from Chile at $1.99 per pound and size six pineapples at $3.99 each.
Mr. Antoch (pronounced AN-torch) noted that this part of the produce department would feature seasonal items throughout the year, so as shoppers entered the store this spring, they could expect California stone fruits, for example.
Gourmet Garage handles a full line of the traditional fruits and vegetables, but is especially known for the extremely wide variety it carries, including hard-to-find specialty and unusual items, according to Mr. Antoch. "They have as much variety as anybody in the city," he stated. "And they know what to do with it."
Founded in 1981 as a wholesale distribution company supplying restaurants in New York City, Gourmet Garage opened its warehouse in Manhattan?s SoHo district to the public in 1992; three more locations followed " one in Greenwich Village, one on the East Side and one on the West Side " before this newest one opened Feb. 28.
And according to Mr. Antoch, this newest store "has been very well received? by local residents. "The neighborhood really needed an improvement? to the produce selection available nearby. On the day of the store?s opening, "I heard one customer say, "I never saw a tomato display like that before,"? he stated, adding that Gourmet Garage "really tries to focus on high-impact displays."
Mr. Arons said that about 2,000 people came into the store on opening day. "We had the most positive response we?ve ever had to an opening," he said. "There are a lot of young people? in the neighborhood. "There are 11 schools in a five-block area, and area residents "all appreciate? the variety and high quality of produce at the store.
As if to validate the retailer?s commitment to excellence, Juliana May, a shopper who said she lives one block from the new store, volunteered, "I cannot tell you how happy I am that this store opened. I tell everyone to shop here. We really needed this."
Like the four other stores in the chain " all located in Manhattan " fresh fruits and vegetables play perhaps the most important role in this newest store, located on Park Avenue and 96th Street in one of the city?s more fashionable neighborhoods.
The store, at around 5,000 square feet, is small by national standards although somewhat typical of Manhattan, where space is definitely at a premium. Fresh produce, however, accounts for about one-quarter of that space, according to Mark A. Antoch, manager of business development for RLB Food Distributors in West Caldwell, NJ, which supplies an estimated 97 percent of Gourmet Garage?s produce. RLB has been a supplier to Gourmet Garage for about 11 years and its primary supplier for about six years, he noted.
Indeed, fresh produce and fresh flowers are right at the entrance as shoppers come into the supermarket, a clear sign of the importance of this category to owners Andy Arons and Adam Hartman.
When The Produce News visited the store on March 14, the produce items offered to shoppers at the entrance included green and Flame seedless grapes from Chile at $1.99 per pound and size six pineapples at $3.99 each.
Mr. Antoch (pronounced AN-torch) noted that this part of the produce department would feature seasonal items throughout the year, so as shoppers entered the store this spring, they could expect California stone fruits, for example.
Gourmet Garage handles a full line of the traditional fruits and vegetables, but is especially known for the extremely wide variety it carries, including hard-to-find specialty and unusual items, according to Mr. Antoch. "They have as much variety as anybody in the city," he stated. "And they know what to do with it."
Founded in 1981 as a wholesale distribution company supplying restaurants in New York City, Gourmet Garage opened its warehouse in Manhattan?s SoHo district to the public in 1992; three more locations followed " one in Greenwich Village, one on the East Side and one on the West Side " before this newest one opened Feb. 28.
And according to Mr. Antoch, this newest store "has been very well received? by local residents. "The neighborhood really needed an improvement? to the produce selection available nearby. On the day of the store?s opening, "I heard one customer say, "I never saw a tomato display like that before,"? he stated, adding that Gourmet Garage "really tries to focus on high-impact displays."
Mr. Arons said that about 2,000 people came into the store on opening day. "We had the most positive response we?ve ever had to an opening," he said. "There are a lot of young people? in the neighborhood. "There are 11 schools in a five-block area, and area residents "all appreciate? the variety and high quality of produce at the store.
As if to validate the retailer?s commitment to excellence, Juliana May, a shopper who said she lives one block from the new store, volunteered, "I cannot tell you how happy I am that this store opened. I tell everyone to shop here. We really needed this."
