Editorial: Supermarket closing hurts community

I fear that supermarket left due to market conditions and probably being robbed blind. Hey but that's the supermarkets fault right, typical Newsday.

No stores of major significance are in operation in Wyandanch. Don't blame the business blame the people who rob them and pose threats to their customers. Wyandanch once had a King Kullen,a Genovese, a KFC and a McDonalds. All gone. Ask yourselves why.

Lowes is about to get a taste of that neighbor-hoood. Lowes ( rumor has it) is supposed to move into the old Caldor/ Pergament building on the corner of montauk hwy & 101.

You haven't seen nothing yet...A&P has just recently brought Pathmark and they now own A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaums and another market i forgot the name of. They just recently shut down a warehouse in Central Islip and this juggernaut isn't finished. BTW Waldbaum is a very high priced store and in a area such as Bellport and E.Patchogue-they priced themselves out.

"In Congress, the farm bill should include adequate funding for the community food projects grants program."

Okay Newsjunk, but this farm bill also increases the costs for food for these same residents of these communities. The farmers who receive the majority of these subsides are large owners of land who are big businesses not mom & pop farms. Is it not funny that the Wall Street Journal, the paper for the rich Republicans as they are so often thought of has been advocating the rid of these subsides for sometime yet this paper who advocates for the poor poor people does not write an editorial of the same.

What gives Newsjunk ?

I guess they get tired of processing all the WIC checks and FOOD Stamps

Business is business. If the store isn't profitable it needs to be closed - it's as simple as that.

Now that A&P owns all these supermarkets they are closing some of them so that they arent too close to others that they own so that there wont be a "monopoly" according to them. The Waldbaums on Montauk Hwy in Shirley just closed because A&P bought Pathmark, which is right down the block.

Sam Kinison said it best "MOVE TO WHERE THE FOOD IS".

Most of the losses these stores experience due to theft is internal. Managers, cashiers and stock people. The people who work at these stores rob them blind not the people from the community because the people from the community do not work there. Can't get a job there even if they tried, in none of them. Maybe McDonalds on Montauk Hwy. in E. Patchogue, then there are very few.

Even if a customer did steal something it certainly would not be enough to run a supermarket out of business. If these stores are closing due to losses, it's being done by someone who has access to the big money, a bag of pampers or a loaf of bread is not going to put them out of business.

I believe Waldbaums in Shirley is turning into a Shop & Shop. The Waldbaums in Swan Commons is small, outdated and apparently had no room for expansion. I always wondered why it wasn't fixed up, especially since the next nearest supermarket is some distance away

A Sister wrote:

Most of the losses these stores experience due to theft is internal. Managers, cashiers and stock people. The people who work at these stores rob them blind not the people from the community because the people from the community do not work there. Can't get a job there even if they tried, in none of them. Maybe McDonalds on Montauk Hwy. in E. Patchogue, then there are very few.
Even if a customer did steal something it certainly would not be enough to run a supermarket out of business. If these stores are closing due to losses, it's being done by someone who has access to the big money, a bag of pampers or a loaf of bread is not going to put them out of business.

And aren't those usually local area people who work at these store's.

Broke taxpayer wrote:

<quoted text>
And aren't those usually local area people who work at these store's.

Not necessarily.

The high business taxes on Long Island force companies to leave and/or close down some of their stores.

Additionally, the high cost of living (NYS income taxes and LI property taxes) make it hard for businesses to operate.

Wake up - cut taxes

Clear Vision wrote:

The high business taxes on Long Island force companies to leave and/or close down some of their stores.
Additionally, the high cost of living (NYS income taxes and LI property taxes) make it hard for businesses to operate.
Wake up - cut taxes

That might be true, but other towns have too many supermarkets built very close and spoiling open areas. i.e. the Stop N Shop that was built on wetlands in West Babylon on the corner of Great East Neck Road and Montauk Highway. It's a stone's throw from Pathmark and about a mile from King Kullen, not far from a new Waldbaums either. It would have made more sense to keep the wetlands but the builder had grandfathered rights to spoil the property.

A Sister wrote:

Most of the losses these stores experience due to theft is internal. Managers, cashiers and stock people. The people who work at these stores rob them blind not the people from the community because the people from the community do not work there. Can't get a job there even if they tried, in none of them. Maybe McDonalds on Montauk Hwy. in E. Patchogue, then there are very few.
Even if a customer did steal something it certainly would not be enough to run a supermarket out of business. If these stores are closing due to losses, it's being done by someone who has access to the big money, a bag of pampers or a loaf of bread is not going to put them out of business.

If you had any idea the amount of money a supermarket lose from losses (theft or otherwise)each year you'd be singing a different tune. Supermarkets in depressed areas spend more on security, and also deal with more claims against them from slip and fall artists, parking lot theft/damages, Stolen shopping carts etc. These circumstances all lead to lower profit margins. Are they losing money as a whole? No. But as with any large coporation, it is only smart to maximize profit while lowering exposure to risk. That's what is going on. Some things aren't as simple as your mind works.

Johnny Islander wrote:

<quoted text>If you had any idea the amount of money a supermarket lose from losses (theft or otherwise)each year you'd be singing a different tune. Supermarkets in depressed areas spend more on security, and also deal with more claims against them from slip and fall artists, parking lot theft/damages, Stolen shopping carts etc. These circumstances all lead to lower profit margins. Are they losing money as a whole? No. But as with any large coporation, it is only smart to maximize profit while lowering exposure to risk. That's what is going on. Some things aren't as simple as your mind works.

Exactly Johnny, Sister has proven time and time again that she has no clue how the world works. And notice her racial undertones, she immediately gets defensive and insists it's not the 'peoples' fault. ugh.

Maybe Compare Foods will take over.They took over the Waldbaum's in Farmingville.They can operate in certain area's that the major chain's want no part of.They are the only supermarket in Wyandanch.East Patchogue should be alot easier.

Hobbesmom wrote:

I believe Waldbaums in Shirley is turning into a Shop & Shop. The Waldbaums in Swan Commons is small, outdated and apparently had no room for expansion. I always wondered why it wasn't fixed up, especially since the next nearest supermarket is some distance away

Stop and Shop in Shirley already opened three weeks ago, and from what I hear, it's doing better than Waldbaums did in a long while.

I have a feeling that Waldbaums's going to turn into Compare Foods or some other Mexican supermarket. East Patchogue is South Farmingville.

On Montauk Highway from Station Road west to Route 112, East Patchogue's a wasteland and aside from that Lowe's, it's not going to change any time soon.

Corporate has let that store go into disarray for years. They rebuilt the one on Sunrise Hwy and it is doing very well. The store in East Pat is always empty at 6pm, they will have 2 registers open. There is no REAL need for that store, Saturdays are empty as well. The New S&S on 101 has taken away the business that used to sustain this store. It has nothing to do with pilferage of any type. How many of you know-it-all really know anything about retail? It is my business.

In regards to Sister, she is correct. Although I think for the wrong reason. She wants to say the people who shop there (who may be minority most are not) do not steal, it's the employees. I've been to that store this week, local people work there.

Employees and managers steal conciderably more than the customers, becuse they are not being monitored as much.
Here is what I found doing a quick search on Google:
Employee pilferage accounts for 60-75 percent of all business losses according to the United States Government. I searched "retail pilferage".... give it a try and learn something.
Here's more:
With staff theft the average value of theft rose as they are in positions of easier access and trust

52.6 percent of goods stolen by staff is cash, 26.2 is goods and almost 4 per cent is both

Other significant frauds are refund fraud, collusion and fraud involving loyalty cards or gift vouchers.