Rumors are flying on social media regarding the future of the defunct Waldbaum’s supermarket in the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens.
The challenge has been finding any truth to all the speculation.
The We Love Whitestone Facebook page has been buzzing in recent days about the possibility of a Trader Joe’s supermarket coming to the site located in Whitestone Plaza at 153-01 10th Ave.
Trader Joe’s, the nationally renowned organic food retailer, has just one location in Queens on Metropolitan Avenue on the Glendale/Forest Hills border. A Trader Joe’s spokesperson, however, told QNS it was not pursuing the location.
The latest rumor centers around possibly bringing Shop Rite, which recently opened up shop in neighboring College Point, to Whitestone Plaza. QNS reached out to Shop Rite’s corporate office for a comment and is awaiting a response.
Whitestone Plaza is owned and operated by The Feil Organization, a Manhattan-based real estate company, which lists on its website the former Waldbaum’s supermarket as being available. When contacted by QNS, a Feil representative said that the space was “kind of available” but declined to comment any further.
According to the advertisement, the 41,705-square-foot of space could be divided. Feil touted the site’s prime location, as it is located in close proximity to the Cross Island Parkway, Whitestone and Clearview Expressways and the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges. Whitestone Plaza has a parking lot accommodating 290 spaces.
The Waldbaum’s at Whitestone Plaza closed its doors in November after the regional supermarket chain’s parent company, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), filed for bankruptcy last summer. A&P sold a number of Waldbaum’s and PathMark locations in Queens to competitors such as Stop & Shop and Key Food, but the Whitestone Waldbaum’s was ultimately shuttered.
QNS will continue following the story, and we encourage our readers to email editorial[@]qns.com any tips they may have.
