Amish Market will close permanently this month

Amish Market, which has held up the entire storefront along West Broadway between Park Place and Murray for years, will close permanently — likely by the 26th. The word came from the store manager, Mike Jording.

“Because of covid, we’ve lost 90% of the business. We’ve been open all this time serving the neighborhood,” he said. “But we cannot continue for various reasons.”

They are discounting everything in the store so he wants the neighborhood to know and come shop so it sets them up better for next time. “I hope one day Amish Market can open again in a much better place in the neighborhood.”

The first Amish Market downtown was opened in 1999 on Cedar Street by Adem Arici — who in fact is Turkish. They made it through 9/11, even after that store was destroyed. In 2011, the company’s owners went through both an indictment for tax conspiracy and a bankruptcy filing, but stayed open throughout. They also made it through a gas leak in 2017 that poisoned two dozen of their employees. In short, it has not been easy.

This last crisis has clearly not been easy either, and, as it has been for so many, it is the last straw. It’s a major loss for the neighborhood.

As a post-script:

Can’t help but reprint this great anecdote that essentially credits Amish with Cardi B.’s rise to stardom, which came to light in a 2017 New York Magazine profile: “After high school [she graduated around 2000] Cardi enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and took some courses in history and French while working as a cashier at an Amish Market. Her manager suggested she might make more money across the street stripping at New York Dolls Gentlemen’s Club.” So she did, and told the magazine it was a great gig. “I get really happy when people see me perform and they’re rapping my music, but it’s a different feeling when you’re dancing and the men throwing you money because you look good,” she says. “It’s just like when the rice is getting thrown at the bride.”

 
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7 Comments

  1. They also deserve eternal thanks for allowing anyone in the neighborhood to charge devices on their generator, on the sidewalk, during the Sandy power outage. Same generator that kept them partially open – with calculators to tabulate purchases.

  2. Sorry to see them go. Their short order breakfast was the best. Here’s a Cardi B interview and photoshoot at Amish: https://www.thefader.com/2016/02/29/cardi-b-interview

  3. sad. trying to shop local in tribeca to support businesses. they need us!

  4. I deliver items to the units above that building often. I’m an Uber driver sometimes and I pick up riders right form there as well. This comes as a surprise. I remember picking up a few items there for Phlatbed (on demand delivery app like Uber for large items – Facebook Marketplace sales, Craigslist, junk removals etc), and would never think they’ll be closing.
    Shame to see such a well liked place close shop.

  5. They have my family’s gratitude for staying open throughout the shutdown and actually having things IN STOCK.

  6. Thank you Amish Market for the countless flowers, breakfasts and lunches. We hope you return soon.

  7. I am sorry to hear this! I worked in the neighborhood for years, and remember how happy I was when the West Broadway location opened. I often got lunch there & picked up items on my way home from work. Unfortunately my building on the corner of Murray & West Sts was closed for renovations even before the pandemic started, which definitely contributed to their loss of customers. I wish them luck and thank you for printing their story.

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