Zabar's Eyes Going Global

Zabar’s, located at 2245 Broadway at 80^th Street, is many things. It’s a high-end specialty store, a legendary deli and grocery store, a place to get great food, a mom-and-pop shop, an Upper West Side landmark, a tourist attraction, and an amenity.

But Zabar’s represents something more. In a word, it sums up its significance to the West Side, as it caters to a local and national audience and aspires to reach a global one.

“We’re an institution. We’ve been at the same location for 90 years,” said Scott Goldshine, Zabar’s general manager, who has been with the store for 47 years. “It’s a New York institution, a Jewish institution, an Upper West Side institution.”

Like a North Star in its neighborhood, attracting people from all over the city, the country, and even the world, it delivers nationwide. It is considering going global as it approaches its first century of family business.

Louis and Lillian Zabar founded this eponymous business in 1934 with a 22-foot-wide shop at Broadway and West 80th Street.

Today, the two-story tall, half-block-long store has employees who have worked there for decades, such as Goldshine, approaching his 50^th anniversary.

“We’re a family-owned business, and we like hiring families. We have lots of people who have been here 10, 20, 30, almost 40 years. We have families who work here,” Goldshine said. “Husbands and wives, children and grandchildren. We have people who used to work here when they were kids. Now their kids are working here.”

Zabar’s, which owns its building, doesn’t have to worry about rising rents or mercurial landlords. Brothers Saul, 96, and Stanley, the whippersnapper, at 92, are the owners.

“To succeed as a family business, you have to love each other and love the business,” the brothers wrote in an open letter on their website. “In our case, great food, great service, great prices, great folks. We ask you, what’s not to love?”

Like some other entrepreneurs, regardless of age, remain engaged with the business. “They’re very involved,” Goldshine added. “They slowed down because of their age. But they’re still here pretty much almost every day.”

Zabar’s history intersects with the food, cuisine, and culture of New York City. In the 1960s, they brought in an upstart—or at least up-and-coming —cheese called Brie before it was as well known in the United States.

The store started selling sun-dried tomatoes and gnocchi in the ’70s and affordable caviar in the ’80s, igniting what it still calls a “Caviar War” that it says it and its customers won.

Workers still hand-slice smoked fish, offer samples of artisanal cheeses, sell freshly baked batches of rugelach, and roast special coffee blends. They sell about 400,000 pounds of coffee a year, enough caffeine to keep much of New York City caffeinated at night and watching too much Netflix.

In addition to specialty foods, Zabar’s sells a vast collection of housewares, allowing you to purchase ingredients and the right tools to prepare it.

“People come and redo their kitchens, from gadgets to pots and pans, microwaves and mixers,” Goldshine said.

After launching a successful store, asking whether they might open more is natural.

“It’s tough enough to run the store as is and keep the standards,” Goldshine said. “We’ve changed, but not really. We try and stay true to ourselves. We’re still old-fashioned, but not.”

Zabar has built a sizable online business, and delivery is a major service offered. Standard online orders are shipped via UPS, but if you’re willing to pay for a messenger, they can deliver the following day. “I can get you stuff in four hours in the Hamptons if you really want it,” Goldshine said.

“Smoked fish is still our number one thing, nova, white fish, sable and sturgeon,” Goldshine added. “We were one of the pioneers of gourmet, high-end coffee, and still are.

They also sell about 8,000 pounds of coffee weekly, much of it shipped. This represents between a quarter and a third of their business, including healthy Hamptons sales.

“We ship across the country, perishables like nova, pastrami, corned beef, and non-perishable. And tons of bagels, babka and rugalach,” Goldshine said. “We don’t do out of the U.S. yet, although we are working on it. A ton of ex-New Yorkers across the country are homesick. They want Zabar’s food.”

Then some walk-ins experience Zabar’s difference and desire the food once they return home.

“Since we are a well-known establishment, many tourists walk through these doors,” Goldshine said. “Once they get a taste, they want it no matter where they are. Then there are the gifts… The look on people’s face when they get a box from Zabar’s is priceless.”