Brach’s to be sold

The contrast between the parking lots of kosher supermarkets Gourmet Glatt, in Cedarhurst, and Brach’s, in Lawrence, could not have been more stark one day last week, as vehicles streamed into Gourmet Glatt’s lot from Spruce Street, but only one vehicle was parked in the Brach’s lot on Lawrence Lane.

Brach’s closed on May 1, and the building remains unused, as a reported sale to Brooklyn-based KRM/Moisha’s kosher grocer fell through, according to Jack Brach. “KRM was unable to close so the deal is gone,” Brach wrote in an email.“We are close to a deal with Gourmet Glatt, but as the KRM episode showed, anything not done can still go either way.”

“Talks have taken place,” said Yeoli Steinberg, general manager of Gourmet Glatt, “but I cannot comment with additional information at this time. Let’s wait to see how they progress to see what develops.” Last year, Gourmet Glatt opened another store in Woodmere that replaced a Key Food.

With Brach’s closed, Gourmet Glatt’s two locations and Seasons, on Central Avenue and Doughty Boulevard, both in Lawrence, are now the dominant kosher food markets in the Five Towns.

Woodmere resident Malka Eisenberg, who shopped at Brach’s since it opened in Lawrence in 1997, said that since it closed, she has continued to shop at Costco in Lawrence, and now occasionally at Gourmet Glatt.

“When Brach’s opened here, it was a bigger store at the time compared to others, and had its own parking lot,” Eisenberg said. “It had good-quality merchandise and prices within reason. Its closing has left a hole in the community.”

Judy Joszef, a Woodmere resident who shopped at Brach’s for 19 years, said she had heard about the potential KRM deal, and then rumors about a possible wedding hall moving into the building, and now the talk of Gourmet Glatt. “I really liked [Brach’s] prices, which were very competitive, and certain cuts of meat I couldn’t get at other stores,” said Joszet, a professional party planner and a columnist for The Jewish Star. “I’ll miss it now.” She now shops at Gourmet Glatt, she said.

For the past 11 years, Melinda Hilsenrath’s family has lived in North Woodmere and she has shopped at Brach’s, she said. “Their prices were better than a lot of the neighborhood supermarkets,” said Hilsenrath, who was hoping that KRM would buy Brach’s so there would be more competition, and possibly lower prices. She now shops at Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst and Trader Joe’s in Hewlett.

Outside the Brach’s building on June 16, last month’s newspapers sat yellowed on top of a trash can, and debris went uncollected alongside empty pallets and plastic milk crates. Inside, the shelves were bare. The only action — or so it seemed — was at Legacy Fitness, upstairs. The space was full of workout equipment and music blared from a sound system, but no one was around.
Christian Mendoza, who owns Legacy Fitness, told the Herald that any comment about the future of the facility would have to come from Brach. For his part, Brach said he would not comment on Legacy’s status until he reached an agreement with a buyer.

Have an opinion about the kosher supermarket landscape in the Five Towns? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.