Howard Beach residents wonder whether the Waldbaum's sign will be lying on the ground outside their supermarket in the near future.
Speculation continues to swirl about the fate of two Howard Beach Waldbaum’s Supermarkets rumored to be on the verge of closure.
Unofficial sources told The Forum that the Waldbaum’s property within the Lindenwood shopping center would be taken over and maintained by another supermarket chain, however no such commitment has been made with regard to the Cross Bay Boulevard store.
Customers at the Cross Bay Boulevard store say they believe the rumors are true because of what they say are deplorable conditions in the store. “First of all,” Edith Kessler says, “there’s no merchandise. The sale starts Friday—everything good is already out of stock by Saturday or Sunday at the latest—they never have enough.”
But Kesseler’s complaints aren’t the only ones. Randy Perkell, who lives two blocks away and is limited by the fact that he doesn’t have access to a car often, uses the supermarket because it is close. “I wish I had a choice.”
The conditions as reported by several readers and shoppers interviewed outside the store were not without substantiation.
In addition to the store being sold out of several of the lead promotional items of the week early into the sale, the produce aisle was not well stocked nor did the fruit look to be of first quality in many instances. Strawberries on sale for $3.99 had mold visible on several berries in numerous boxes.
Bags of grapes on sale for $2.49 per pound were crushed, while others carried a white waxy film. There was ground dirt on the floor around the outside perimeter of many refrigerated cases.
Mouse droppings found on a stock shelf of condensed and sweetened milk in the Waldbaum's on Cross Bay Boulevard.
Several products in the cheese display this week were outdated including a President’s Brie dated 1/21/12.
But perhaps the most disturbing fact is something we discovered while bending down to get a can of Carnation
Sweetened milk. It was observed that piles of mouse droppings were spread out along the shelf behind the canned milk.
As of press time, Waldbaum’s corporate could not be reached for comment.
Please see The Forum next week for more information on this story. Updates will also be posted on our website
www.theforumnewsgroup.com.
