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Little Italy Losing Customers To Behemoth Food Mall Eataly
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jun 13, 2011
Modified Jun 13, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Jun 13, 2011
Modified Jun 13, 2011
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Mamma mia! Little Italy shopkeepers are feeling the burn of Mario Batali, whose ginormous Flatiron Italian food emporium Eataly is stealing all their customers away.
"It's the new thing in town, but we've been here 120 years," said Adeline Lepore Sessa, owner of Ferrara Bakery & Café. "Eataly is for the kind of people who'd rather spend $700 on a pair of shoes than $70," said Marcello Assante, owner of Mambo Italiano. Classic stores like Di Palo, Alleva Dairy, and Piemonte are hurting (perhaps because many of them close by 6 p.m. on weekdays and even earlier on weekends), while shoppers flock to the sparkling confines of Eataly. One customer told The Post, "[Eataly's] a better atmosphere. When I think of Little Italy, I think it's a little dirty, grimy, it's hot and smelly."
It's an interesting change of pace from when the mega-mall first opened, and Little Italy vendors were distinctly nonplussed by its arrival, as evidenced by this video from e2eats:
And at the end of the day, it's been (sort of) scientifically proven that Di Palo's fresh mozzarella is better than Eataly's, and the endless lines and confusing layout at Eataly are enough to have driven some customers away ("This place is a complete clusterfuck."). Don't give up hope, old-schoolers! Just...maybe try staying open past sunset?
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alleva
dipalo
Eataly
little italy
mario batali
money
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old school
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Jamie Feldmar
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