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July 23, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
An organic food and health store in Astoria has shuttered after a 14-year run.
Vitality Health, located at 46-03 Broadway, announced on social media yesterday that it had closed for good.
The post did not specify the reason for the closure although it alluded to years of persistent 311 complaints lodged against the business.
On Instagram, the company described a 311 complaint that was made on Wednesday about the store allegedly not enforcing the requirement that customers must wear masks.
The NYPD, according to the post, responded to the call and visited the store at around 7 p.m.
“I replied and said end of shift! 14 yrs of 311 calls and bulls**t from some hating customers,” the post read, which appeared to be written by the owner.
“Its all ova! A new journey!”
It remains unclear why the store closed and the owner could not be reached for comment. Customers speculated on Reddit last week that the business was shutting down, with prices slashed by up to 40 percent.
The store was known by locals for selling a wide range of organic fruits and vegetables. It also served both hot and cold organic meals as well as vitamin and nutritional supplements.
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16 Comments
You call 311 like a rat, now you will have to travel to get health food, nothing too close by.
I had to report three markets this weekend in Astoria for allowing customers without face masks.
Why?
GREAT fast food location
So Sorry To See The Store Close?Such a Vital Essential Mainstay in The Commodity. Hard Working Proprietor Great Customer Service. Pettiness & Jealousy is getting Our Community No where very fast?Bests To Owner & Family Going Foward.
Safe?Well?
I think that was a great store always selling good stuffs i will miss it dearly i would always buy your hots soups there …they were great ..i hope your guys a farewell where ever you might go ..god bless your guys.
The owner of the store was hospitalized for Covid19.
After recovery, he returned, reareanged his store with social distancing measures and reopened.
At one point there was an attempted burglary and the owner was attacked.
The final straw was the complaints on 311 regarding the store serving people without masks.
Certainly his final goodbye was not the farewell most would have liked to have seen. But, I honestly don’t blame him!
Dealing with the public pre-corona19 was already tough.
To add insult to injury keyboard warriors who never ran a business, would not know how to run a business, have never had to work in a business like this, and probably would run a business into the ground, think they know better than the people that work there!
So, they yelp the crap out of it so they can feel oh so important and have their opinions validated..rather than ask to speak to the manager.
People…if you are afraid to ask a fellow customer to put a mask on for fear of how they will react, then why expect a person who earns $12.50 an hour?
People, if you are afraid to ask for the manager/owner and speak to them about YOUR problem, then why are you going in yelp, or complaining to 311?!!
People…you have a right to your opinion.
You DON’T have a right to behave like a spoilt narcissistic brat, ruining our neighborhood with your wannabe Manhattan ‘I’m so special, what’s your name’s attitude! You bring our neighborhood’s down, then you move out when you are no longer satisfied. The community that made you want to come here in the first place are left to deal with the consequences of your spineless choices.
Do us all a favor, move back to Manhattan or Brooklyn. Bring your giant sized egotistical, narcissistic, petty attitude with you, and let us get back to supporting locals that try to support us and take back our supportive community sans you!
Living here since 1972 I;m amazed how many “do-gooders” have moved into the neighborhood they wanted to be in and have started complaining about every little thing that upsets them. It seems that every one wants to be a :”victim” today and not take any personal responsibility.
MENTIROSO ESTE NEGOCIO O PERO MAS O MENOS 5 AÑOS…..MAXIMO 8 AÑOS…ADEMAS EL DUEÑO TRATABA MUY MAL A SUS EMPLEADOS.CUANDO ABRIERON EL NEGOCIO ,DABAN PUNTOS Y OFERTAS PARA ATRAER CLIENTES..DESPUES ELEVARON LOS PRECIOS….ADEMAS DE LA CASA QUE NO ERAN PRODUCTOS ORGANICOS……….MENTIROSOS ESTAFADORES.
Great store, BS social media response. If customers were complaining about people not wearing masks, it likely was true. So rather than enforce something that would keep his employees and customers safe, he used this as the reason why he shut down. As if he were sticking it to the city and law enforcement.
Please.
Bottom line, this is another tough guy, BS reply. The reality was, the store, like many other businesses, was hurt by this awful pandemic. And it’s okay to admit that, as opposed to the absurd social media post. I mean, all this guy did was post on social media on how they’d stock up on supplies…and all of a sudden, weeks later, hey, I’m shutting down because of complaining customers?
Nice try. And a shame, because this was a great place. But don’t listen to the owner’s garbage. If you have a business for 14 years, you don’t cave into a few complaints and leave your employees without work. You straighten up, run the ship right and keep going. So stop the typical, Astoria tough guy act already.
He made enough money over 14 years that he doesn’t have to deal with B.S anymore. That’s all. He’s semi retired, his staff are on unemployment now , and you wrote your three paragraphs in the bathroom while your roommate was waiting doing the pee pee dance.
Omg, no! I’m calling there right now. Let’s talk them out of it. Vitality , we need you!! Give it another chance.
This was probably the FINAL STRAW w/the over regulation high rent a well meaning city council that DOESN’T understand that the WHOLE REASON for starting a business is PROFIT .
So sorry to see such a wonderful place close down. The food and staff are the best. This place will be sorely missed.
No way that’s crazy I ll miss you so much that’s sooooo sad I used to go there since they open I don’t know what to say No Words I m chocked!
Follow the stream of successful people who are leaving to Florida and Texas ,its a empty shell of what Astoria used to be , it will take 3 Rudy Guilianis to fix it.
A business like that will be loved in any city in those states.