A special watermelon display in the produce department showcased a bruised and rotted melon which was leaking all over the other melons and drawing fruit flies on Sunday afternoon. Advertised for $7.99, the rotten melon was selling for around .15-.20 more than two local stores with quality produce, Ragtime Gourmet and Tutta Frutta. Forum Newsgroup photo submitted by Heather Phillps.
It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and according to one Forum reader who is “fed up with the disgraceful situation at the Crossbay Boulevard Waldbaum’s , there is no disputing the old saying.
Heather Phillips, a Howard Beach resident who says she frequents the store, sent three images to the newspaper to document the conditions after what she says was her breaking point.
Phillips went into the store to finish up last minute shopping for a Father’s Day barbecue. “What really started me off is that I had asked my
End cap displays block access to the self checkout area . Note the filthy floor. Forum Newsgroup photo by Heather Phillips.
dad what he most wanted and he said a watermelon.” Low and behold when Phillips headed for the produce aisle she came upon a box of watermelons, advertised for $7.99. The first thing she saw was a rotting melon split open, sitting atop the pile and leaking all over the other melons. Photos showed her comments to be justified totally. “It’s just disgusting,” Phillips said. There is no one in that store who cared enough to remove a melon like that from plain view. Are they totally stupid or do they just not give a damn about us?” But her shopping experience was marked by more than just the disappointment of rotting fruit. The self check-out area she phtographed was shut down and out of service. A hand made sign hung on a display served to block customers from accessing the self-check stations.
Another photo sent in showed a line of customers wrapped around the store, with only three registers open. Tempers flared according to Phillips, who called The Forum offices from the supermarket. A message received by an intern working the weekend at the newspaper sent the young reporter to the store to confirm exactly what was going on. “I know the newspaper has been at the head of this charge and I feel we should be helping ourselves by exposing what is going on here,” the recorded message said. “Please continue to help us.”
By Patricia Adams.
