By Gus Saltonstall
“Everything Must Go” discount signs have been plastered to the front of Barzini’s on the Upper West Side.
The signs went up Tuesday at the grocery store on Broadway, between West 90th and 91st streets, according to a tipster who emailed the Rag.
The signs read, “Every Thing Must Go! 30% Discount On All The Grocery – Not Included: Beer, Drinks, Beverages, Produce, Dairy, and Ice Cream.”
The signs also appear inside the store.
Typically, “Everything Must Go” signs that include a discount at the price point indicate a business is in the process of closing, but multiple Barzini’s employees told West Side Rag that wasn’t the case.
When the Rag called Barzini’s office number on Tuesday, a man who did not identify himself picked up and said, “No, no such thing,” when asked if the grocer would be shuttering.
He explained that the store had “too much inventory” and that they wanted to add a discount on items to incentivize more sales. He added that the discounted prices were also in the spirit of the upcoming Jewish holidays in September.
When the Rag visited Barzini’s on Wednesday morning, a cashier also emphasized that the store had no plans to close. It was simply a discount.
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That sign is hilarious.
I always wait for the spirit of “early August nonsense about the upcoming holiday season” to score 30% off on maple syrup and Smucker’s.
Once bought dried pasta from them that was so old it wouldn’t cook. To their credit (after looking at the Best By date) they did replace with a new (fresher) bag.
Over the years they sold me spoiled poultry, questionable cheese, moldy butter and moldy raspberries. They replaced the butter with another package that was just less moldy and tried to make me take a store credit for the raspberries. Never even an apology. I stopped shopping there long before the Department of Health finally stepped in.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Everything must go except.. everything.
Bruno Tattaglia wouldn’t do this.
LOL!!!
I can’t understand how anyone could shop there again when they reopened shortly after the Health Department shut them down and the news reports of the absolutely filthy conditions in the store.
If they were allowed to reopen, presumably the health dept found they has satisfactorily cleaned up.
Maybe, but why would you trust them to maintain cleanliness when it’s under the same management that allowed it to be infested with rats and cockroaches? I saw a rat there about a year before it was shut down, told an employee and he shrugged and seemed unfazed.
I had a similar experience there a year and a half ago. Two, actually: One huge rat on the floor and a mouse among the produce.
Sounds like the Broadway Farm situation.
Good point. And supposedly Broadway Farms was going to reopen under different management, but that isn’t happening.
I always thought the selections and quality at Barzini’s were superior to B’way Farms. I also think they missed a grand opportunity to expand when the Bed Bath & Beyond outlet on 90th, just a block away, went under.
They could have had a larger, newer, cleaner space and possibly headed off the Key Food expansion on 88th (from their Amsterdam/86 location) that likely, is the reason the’ll be put out of business.
Eh. For years there was Food Emporium, Whole Foods, and Barzinis. Food Emporium closed, then Gristedes closed, then Key Foods opened, and then Whole Foods closed. I think that IF Barzinis is closing it is because the Health Department closure took a permanent hit to their business.
They most have a major cash flow issue. perhaps behind on rent etc
I hope they do close, there are plenty of other better supermarkets in the neighborhood. Whatever replaces them would be an improvement.
unfortunately, what is likely to replace them is a store that sits empty for years (though yes, in this case that would still be an improvement)
Based on much of the rest of the neighborhood, nothing would replace them.
How is this place still open? Time to shut down. The worst health violations I have ever seen in my life. I couldn’t buy a pack of gum here after the nightmare I read and pictures I have seen.
I’d swear that those huge bottles of syrup are the same ones that were the last items on the shelves of Broadway Farm in its dying days.
Is the “too much inventory” a code for “stuff that was on our shelves through the pestocalypse”? Asking for a friend.
Does the recent hiring of DEIs reflect collusion between the store and Department of Health to keep it open?
Please provide your definition of a “DEI” and identify what entity allegedly hired “DEIs” and the factual basis for your assertion that; the hiring these so-called DEI’s reflect some sort of “collusion” between the store and the Department of of Heath. In that regard, (you do not indicate whether you are referring to the New York City Department of Health or the New York State Department of Health, so please do that as well.
What is your definition of a “DEI?”
How is this place still open haha. Years ago, long before news broke of its catastrophic health inspection and borderline pathological hoarding, I once observed an employee scratching off the expiration dates on the bottom corner of olive oil labels in the middle of the day. There are literally no rules in this place.
We always called it Ratzini’s.
I was passing by one day, and looked up at the awning above the outdoor fruits and vegetables, and it was full of pigeon poop! Dropping on unwrapped fruit! It’s disgusting !!
My favorite experience there was the time jars of mayonnaise were ‘on sale’ – and the sale sticker covered an expiration date that was more than a year prior. That’s all you need to know about Barzini’s
Hey, negative neighbors! i have been displaced from my apt. of 49 years due to a disastrous fire 12 weeks ago, and, after living in 7 temporary places, I have finally found a furnished apt. to lease in the Lincoln Center neighborhood. You can’t even imagine how much I miss Barzini’s that shopped for me and delivered to me every week since the pandemic. And the prices! I almost fainted when I saw the prices at Morton Williams on this block – the Romano cheese that I bought for $12.99 a lb. a week ago at Barzini’s is $24.99 a lb. at Morton Williams. Cauliflower that is $3.99 at Barzini’s is $8.99 at Morton Williams. I would give anything to be able to have Barzini’s deliver to me down here. Stop complaining please.
My market. Never disappointed me in 40+ years. Been a customer since they were further up Broadway. Very sad.
I spoke with the man who appears to be the store owner this afternoon and he didn’t seem optimistic. I will miss them greatly if they close. Our neighborhood is hardly a food desert, but there is no food market quite like Barzini’s. They have a lot of items that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I don’t even know what some of them are but I’m curious to try. I know there was a health department closing, but they reopened. I’ve gotten some very good produce and they have a great dairy selection that is only surpassed by those Central Asian markets like Tashkent.
Don’t forget the first law of Barzini’s: Check expiration dates.