By Andrew Coen
The North Lawrence Waldbaums opened in 1968, 14 years after the closing of another of the supermarkets, on Central Avenue in Lawrence, where Super Sol is now. Ira Waldbaum, whose father founded the company, lived in Lawrence and opened the Central Avenue store in the late 1940s, after the family business grew from the small grocery store that opened in Brooklyn in 1904 to a chain of supermarkets.
According to Dan Herron, the village's deputy clerk and building inspector in the mid-1950s, the Lawrence Waldbaums changed ownership and became another supermarket. Hewlett was also home to a Waldbaums at the current location of the CVS Pharmacy on Peninsula Boulevard, until it closed a couple of decades ago.
"I'll have to get used to a whole new store," said Rothstein. "This is where I'm comfortable."
Waldbaums was where many Cedarhurst residents chose to do their grocery shopping, including Mayor Andrew Parise, who said it was his late wife's favorite store. "Everybody uses Waldbaums that I know here," said Parise. "It was convenient for a lot of people [in Cedarhurst]."
The closing of the Waldbaums at 345 Rockaway Turnpike, in the Bay Harbor Mall, is due to a decline in business, according to Patty Council, a spokeswoman for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which owns the supermarket. "It's always a difficult decision to close a store," said Council. "We appreciate all of those customers who have been with us all these years."
Once Waldbaums shuts its doors, there will be no supermarkets left in North Lawrence, with the Super Stop & Shop in Inwood being the closest major grocery store. Bruno Panuccio, who lives on Burnside Avenue, has done his grocery shopping at the Waldbaums like many North Lawrence residents, and is upset over the closing. "They shouldn't be closing it," Panuccio said in a phone interview. "I think they did the neighborhood a disservice."
Panuccio added that he will probably begin shopping at the Inwood Stop & Shop.
The closing of the North Lawrence Waldbaums means that employees will need to find new stores in which to work, including Amaranath Mahara of Far Rockaway, who has been working at Waldbaums as a porter for the last few years but was able to get transferred to the Belle Harbor location after Aug. 15. "It's just a matter of relocation," said Mahara, who added that the announced closing did not come as a surprise to employees, since it has been rumored for two years. "I'm just glad that I got something else."
The Bay Harbor Mall is owned by Wilbur Breslin Reality, which could not be reached for comment on what might replace the Waldbaums. The Bay Harbor Mall also houses a Bed Bath & Beyond, Petco and Marshall's clothing store.
After Waldbaums went public in 1962, the company was bought by A&P in 1986, but kept the Waldbaums name in the New York City area. When the North Lawrence Waldbaums closes, there will be 75 of the supermarkets remaining in the metropolitan area.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
