Food Emporium To Close Upper East Side Location

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Upper East Side is set to lose another supermarket, but the last day of the Third Avenue Food Emporium remains unknown.

An employee of the longtime grocer told Patch that the store was indeed closing, adding that the final day had yet to be shared with employees.

Key Foods, the cooperative grocery operation who purchased the Food Emporium location in a 2015 bankruptcy auction, told Patch that they hadn't even received news that the store was closing. Many brands under Key Foods are operated independently, a Key Foods employee said.

The Upper East Side location, at 1175 Third Ave., is even omitted from the company's website, which says the supermarket has two locations, about a half mile from each other in Hell's Kitchen, and describes the stores as "conveniently located throughout Manhattan."

According to Upper East Site, who first reported the closure, the shop hasn't announced the closure to customers, but more informal signs, like empty shelves, a 20 percent off sale for frozen items and empty meat and seafood counters, that indicate the end may be near.

The longtime gourmet grocer, who can trace its roots to 1979, has yet to formally announce any layoffs to the New York State Department of Labor, which could indicate that it plans to move workers to their two remaining locations.