Thanks to David Hill for the tip and the photo.
Columbus Natural Food, an Upper West Side mainstay, is closing its doors at the end of September. The store, which offers prepared food and groceries among other items, has been in the neighborhood for more than 20 years.
Advertisement
“The landlord has other plans,” said Chet Patel, the store owner, who added that those plans may involve demolishing the building and eventually building upward. “There are expansion ideas going. We have no hard feelings against him.”
Patel, 47, has been part of the store’s ownership group for almost seven years. Attempts to find another space for the store have been unsuccessful. Patel said he plans to move to Florida full time and attend to a local business he has there.
READ MORE: 1020 Bar Repossessed; Owner Arrested on Various Charges
“There are hardly any spaces available locally,” said Patel. “Only a couple spots and the rent is more than double.”
The store must vacate the premises at 725 Columbus Ave. (between 96th and 95th streets) by September 30. Patel said they are planning to have a sale the last few weeks of September to help get rid of inventory.
“What’s killing us more every day is online shopping and grocery deliveries,” said Patel. “And places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods,” both of which are within about a four-block radius of Columbus Natural Food.
The store has been a local favorite, with past reviewers calling it a “neighborhood treasure” and citing the friendly and helpful staff.
I lived across from this store for four years and it always had the best bagels in town, and friendly staff. Even after moving out of the city I would stop by and get something. Sad to see it go.
I love this store! I went for their vine-ripe tomatoes and Solgar vitamins.
What a shame. They always had otherwise hard to find products in their store. And the staff were always incredibly friendly and helpful. What a loss.
Really sad to see them go. They’ve been such a source of helping to promote and sustain good health in our neighborhood with a wide range of good products, excellent produce and a knowledgable and concerned staff who created a welcoming atmosphere. Whenever I felt ‘under the weather’, I could reply on Jay’s excellent advice ,his wisdom about what in the store would help me and his amazingly compassionate and good humored disposition which provided its own contribution to customers’ well-being. This store will be greatly missed.
Ellen Gilman, Customer
This is such a shame. This wonderful store has been an integral part of the neighborhood for probably 30 or 40 years. I recall when Anne and Paul owned it and Jae is a great manager now. They have great merchandise and a wonderful array of delicious cooked food including organic roast chicken and vegetables which rotate daily. There’s no other place like it in the area. They were a lifeline for us during the pandemic as they would deliver food and supplies and leave it at the door so we could do a contactless delivery when no one wanted to go into a store or supermarket and they many other things as well. Shame on the landlord for making it impossible for them to stay and the rents are sky high in the area (again due to greedy landlords) so it’s understandable that there’s no place they could find to rent affordably nearby. It is an enormous asset to the community and I wonder if there is some way for the community to demand that the landlord let them stay or find them an affordable place nearby. Paul also had a nice store which was also an asset to the community years ago right at the corner of West 96th and Columbus that sold food, specialty items, paper goods, an array of fruit and vegetables and baked goods. He had to give up the store for the same reason, and they shifted some of the items over to Columbus Natural Food. think the landlord raised the rent to $6000 a month (this was many years ago so that was an enormous rent at the time for a store) and it became unaffordable for him to keep it open. What replaced it? Banco Popular, which just moved from their larger offices across the street. Their former offices stayed empty and became a vacant eyesore for years and the corner store was a major loss for the community.
We love this store and it’s so sad it’s closing. My daughter and I would stop there in the morning to get a fresh muffin, orange juice and coffee. We would share our morning walks to school. The staff would talk to her or ask for her when she wasn’t with me. They work hard to help customers and the owner is very kind. They all will be missed.
My daughter informed me that the store was closing. I used to go there every day when I walked home from work and became a familiar patron to the owner. One day I came in with a newborn and the owner was so shocked as he never knew I was carrying my daughter. I told him my daughter was weaned on the prepared natural dishes I ate for 9 months!
This is SO SAD! it was such a convenient store with The Friendliest Staff. Jay was so helpful and a friend. Even after moving out of the neighborhood we would still stop by. A real loss…. How to find Jay???