Latest news with #gourmetgroceries
New York Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How the Rich Go Grocery Shopping
Good morning. It's Tuesday. Today we'll look at the gourmet groceries that some residents of the Hamptons flock to, even if a melon might cost $400. This summer, New Yorkers in the market for $400 melons, a $159 sweatshirt or perhaps some veal baby food need only travel as far as Southampton, where all the above can be found in at least one of the area's pricey gourmet grocery stores. My colleague Dionne Searcey reported on the fierce high-end grocery competition going down in the Hamptons this summer. As much of New York grapples with an affordability crisis, these specialty stores are seemingly unaffected, ramping up prices and stocking shelves with niche items for the personal chefs, influencers and summer residents who shop there. Some shops, like the Sagaponack General Store, are longtime favorites that are leveling up with multimillion-dollar expansions. The general store's revival was financed by Mindy Gray — wife of Jonathan Gray, the billionaire president of the investment firm Blackstone — who snapped up the store when it came up for sale during the pandemic. Ms. Gray's cash infusion supplied the business with a restored front porch and a line of hoodies (for $159) and tote bags (from $65 to $142). Another store, Loaves & Fishes in Sagaponack, raised its prices so conspicuously this year that some residents have started calling it 'Thieves and Fishes' instead. The store, which said the increase took into account the price of new organic ingredients, also rarely includes price tags on its wares. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Move Over, $100 Lobster Salad. In the Hamptons, These Melons Cost $400.
It wasn't even 8:30 on a recent morning when a shopper emptied his basket of dinner ingredients onto the counter of the Farm & Forage Market in Southampton: two king crab legs, two bags of frozen dumplings, two packages of ramen noodles and a bag of dried sea kelp. The cash register rang up an already eye-popping tally before the customer realized he had forgotten the caviar. He tossed a jar of it onto the counter. The grand total was $1,860. 'I'll put that on your tab, right?' asked Jonathan Bernard, owner of the tiny, tidy store. The shopper, a private chef who works in a home nearby, nodded and noted he would be back later for truffles. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani just won the Democratic nomination for mayor after running on a platform that included city-run grocery stores to help struggling residents. Yet a $1,195 helicopter ride-away in the Hamptons, signs of extreme affluence have long been celebrated, at the Pilates studio where exercisers in designer athleisure compete for spots in $50 classes, on the beach where $20 smoothies can be delivered to sunbathers, on restaurant menus with $100 salads — and now at the grocery store. This summer, an arms race among gourmet groceries has emerged with new specialty stores opening and longtime favorites expanding or adding new items — along with new, higher prices — to their shelves. Some of the big-ticket items top even the Hamptons' much maligned $100-a-pound lobster salad, that debuted several years ago. A top competitor is the specialty musk melon on offer at Farm & Forage. Imported from Japan, it is sprung from tenderly cared-for vines. It sells for as much as $400. (To the undiscerning eye, it looks identical to a regular, grocery store cantaloupe.) Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
