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Local Markets Hit Hard by Whole Foods
The Food Emporium is not the only Tribeca market that has grown quieter these days. Nearby Morgan’s Market on Hudson Street and Bazzini at Greenwich and Jay, both neighborhood institutions, also have been missing many of their regular customers in recent months. Casting a shadow on these and other neighborhood food merchants is the new behemoth down the block: Whole Foods. Mia Chang, 27, whose family owns Morgan’s, said revenue was down between 20 and 30 percent since the store opened in July at Warren and Greenwich Streets. “We’ve had to move a lot of employees’ hours,” Change said. To compete, the store has lowered its prices. It has also been ordering less stock. The co-owner of Bell Bates Natural Foods Market, Rob Sayage, told a similar story. “It’s a 20 percent hit,” Sayage said. “There’s the economy. It’s summer. And then there’s the new Whole Foods. So it’s a triple-whammy.” The owners of Bell Bates and Morgan’s say they have not had to let employees go, so far. But the same cannot be said for Bazzini. According to co-owner Rocco Damato, he has had to lay off four or five employees. “I would say business is down 25-27 percent, specifically since Whole Foods opened,” he said. Most sellers at the Tribeca Greenmarket on Greenwich Street said they were not yet concerned about the impact of Whole Foods on their business. “They may have tomatoes in their store but they’re not fresh picked the day before,” said Tom Margotta, manager of Stokes Farms. “It’s not the same as locally grown, picked for market.” But Alex Villani, owner of Blue Moon Fish, was less sanguine. “I’m very concerned. They are selling fish there. They’re open seven days a week. I’m here for six hours a week.” The coming months will tell the story, he added.
Many residents said they would remain loyal to Greenmarket vendors, but will switch much of their other shopping to Whole Foods. “I now shop at Whole Foods because The Food Emporium for years has been overpriced,” said Judy Gage, a long-time Tribeca resident on her way to the Greenmarket one recent Saturday morning. Gage said she is willing to pay a little more for some items at local stores, like Bell Bates, “because they’ve been a neighborhood fixture and I just can’t bring myself to not buy from them. ” Indeed, some business owners are banking on residents who see Whole Foods as an interloper, and are not ready to give up the stores where they have shopped for years. Eric and Jane Oatman, for example, who have lived in Tribeca since 1975, said that they refuse to shop in Whole Foods. “The pioneer businesses that made the neighborhood are being pushed out by chain stores,” said Eric, as he sat sipping his Saturday morning coffee in Bazzini. Pam Clarke, a Greenmarket farmer whose family owns Prospect Hill Orchards, believes that her customers will not forsake her. “[Whole Foods] probably has good stuff, but to me a lot of the market is that talk back and forth and the community feeling you get from shopping here,” Clarke said. “And I think they’re trying to recreate that, but we have it.” One hopeful refrain among neighborhood food merchants is that the novelty of Whole Foods will soon wear off, and that their business will pick up again. “People want convenience,” said a Food Emporium manager, who asked not to be identified. “You can’t do full service shopping at Whole Foods.” He predicted his customers will discover that and come back. “I feel in my heart of hearts that things will turn around,” he said.
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