KRM and Moisha’s Show Price Remains Driving Force in Kosher Despite Upgrade of Stores

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supermarketMalkie, a 30ish Orthodox woman with two young children in tow, was negotiating her way through the crowded aisles at the KRM Kollel Supermarket in Boro Park on a Thursday morning. She is a regular shopper at the sprawling store with its adjacent parking, which is by far the nation’s busiest kosher supermarket. Diagonally across the street is the upscale Gourmet Glatt, which she says “she visits only occasionally for some special items.”

Malkie may be more the typical kosher shopper as compared to shoppers who frequent the growing number of newly constructed or redesigned stores that have changed the landscape of kosher shopping. KRM’s other store in Flatbush, Moisha’s, is also the busiest kosher store in that community. What both stores have in common is price. Customers say that they realize savings of up to 30% on their weekly shopping, significant for middle class families with larger families. Kosher industry sources say that kosher shoppers are divided perhaps tilted towards the price conscious, between those willing to pay the price for a better shopping experience and those who seek out the savings.

Both KRM and Moisha’s are said to record sales numbers that exceed any store in the neighborhood, including the nearby Shoprite (considered one of the more successful Shoprite stores), but industry sources say that their margins are significantly less than the other major stores. Some shoppers say that the savings may not be as large as some shoppers think. One shopper said that she “does well with the specials at Pomegranate.”

The upshot of the success of KRM and Moisha’s is that a significant number of kosher shoppers continue to shop based on price despite the existence of the aesthetically pleasing new stores and the gourmet items they carry. Although by no means designed as upscale stores, both stores, founded by industry veteran Moshe Binick, have recently undergone major renovations, particularly focusing on more shelving and the all-important number of checkout counters. With Rosh Hashanah and the Yomim Tovim around the corner, both stores are, according to Malkie, “going to look more like Grand Central station.”

KOSHER TODAY

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


20 COMMENTS

  1. i am an active shopper for my family as well as a lot of shopping for my event business krm & moishes as well as upstate for a camp theyare the best in service period i dont see a need for them to renovate …each manager is a super mentch

  2. I was a neighbor for many years with Kollel Grocery, and also opened a retail store for my Jewelry business. My costumers were complaining that they can`t find parking on the block. It became a Sholosh Regolim block. Paisach for Kollel Grocery, Shovuos for the Seforim stores,& Succos for the Suka centers. I am proud to have sold my Building to Kollel as that grocery does the greatest thing for the community. Selling food at the greatest prices all year round. Keep up your good work.

  3. “The upshot of the success of KRM and Moisha’s is that a significant number of kosher shoppers continue to shop based on price despite the existence of the aesthetically pleasing new stores and the gourmet items they carry”

    Bingo! Exactly! That is why our family has been shopping in Moisha’s since day one. Who cares about fancy walls and tiles or some clown wearing a “distinguished” looking uniform when we are struggling financially. They have good service & they treat us like menschen. The ikar is, that they consistently have thee lowest prices on the heimisha brand products. Why would I spend 3 to 4 dollars a pound, more, for chicken just because its from some exotic location somewhere in Nebraska? Ridiculous. A mensch has to eat in order to serve HKB”H so what’s this big to-do about davka this kind of dip, cheese, chicken, cut of meat, etc… Those who spend more for no reason other than to show off that I’m wealthy and made it in life, are just plain stupid.
    Reb Moisha Binick really deserves a grosser Yasher Koach for truly understanding what the Frum Tzibbur is going thru! Chazak Vi’ematz!

  4. The price of glatt meat has risen astronomically in the last year or so. Most meat is coming in frozen from out of the country and is so waterlogged that by the time it hits your plate it’s tasteless. Take hamburgers for example. You start to pan sear them and, before you know it, they’re swimming in liquid and have shrunk to 2/3 their original size. (I sear my burgers in a nonstick pan without oil or cooking spray and they’re still swimming in liquid.)
    As for prices, the companies are ruthless. They manage to find reasons to raise prices around every yom tov. They know we have no choice because we have to buy kosher products so they can stick it to us with impunity. They have no compunctions about raising prices when gas prices go up, but they have never once had the decency to lower their prices when gas prices came down again. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew I was taking advantage of people who have trouble making ends meet.
    A butcher shop probably spends about $7 on each turkey. If they cut it up and sell the breasts, wings, thighs and drumsticks separately they can make about $50 profit per turkey. Is that fair?
    The bottom line is that the stores and vendors have us over a barrel and they know it. How they sleep at night is beyond me.

  5. #8, Bubby, that’s probably not water, that’s probably fat. Get leaner ground beef and you won’t have that problem. Taste issue is something else…

  6. I agree with all of the above. Moshe Binik is a first class mensch that has the Tzibbur constantly in mind. How can I help my Yiddisha Brothers? He doesn’t look for excuses to raise prices. He finds excuses to LOWER prices. He thinks and acts like a Brother, not like a ruthless gelt gruben businessman who tries to get rich on the backs of the most gullible! HKB”H should bentch him & his mishpacha with gezunt un langer yorin.

  7. Besides the high prices in all the new “gourmet” stores, the food culture they’re promothing is revolting. Those pictures of mouth watering roasts etc, are the exact opposite of how I grew up raised by a Pre War Litvishe Yeshiva-Mussar Alumnus who couldn’t even understand how people eat in restaurants. Now the food worship in the frum ads and recipe columns and gourmet food stores is completely over the top.

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