Well…that was fast!  Garden of Eden, after agreeing to stay open last week after announcing they were closing, announced they are closing again on July 31st.  I think anyone who shopped there regularly and stopped by over the last week, definitely should have seen this coming as GoE didn’t really bother restocking much of their original merchandise.  Further, I tried to buy some produce there several times and found a lot of it was either moldy or on its way there quickly.   IF they were serious about staying open and giving it a go, they really didn’t do much to prove it.

I think it goes without saying (but I’m gonna say it anyway) that they have made several missteps here.  First, and foremost, remaining open for one week is not giving the market a fair shot!  I don’t even think they really ever really tried with this market and giving it less than a week after four months or so total time proves that point.  GoE squandered a great opportunity to drive business to the store with the festival that was held here in Berkeley Heights last week.  There was a ton more foot and drive-by traffic around the store over a five day period and they did nothing to encourage passers-by into coming into the store.  They did place a small sign advertising a few produce specials outside the store but they could have really capitalized on the festival and news that they were staying open with a modicum of effort.  Had they done anything such as extending hours, offering festival specials on prepared food, or anything at all, I think they would have been happy with the results of that effort.

Second, and maybe worse, they attempted to rebrand themselves as a store that can support ‘one stop shopping’.  They mentioned this over and over again in their emails and communication with customers after they announced they were giving it another go.  This simply isn’t and wasn’t the case.  GoE does not have the inventory to compete with or even approach the variety of items found at Stop N Shop, Kings, Target, Costco, etc.  Did they have some paper towels and some baggies?  Yes, they did and that’s great for convenience in a pinch.  However, who is really going to buy one package of two paper towel rolls here in the suburbs?  Who, in the suburbs, doesn’t buy multiple roll packs or purchase in bulk at Costco or Target?  They simply can’t compete on that level and they were kidding themselves if they thought they could or, worse, they were kidding their customers by saying they could offer that! They are a gourmet grocery store that sells gourmet prepared foods as well.  C’on GoE, embrace who you are!

At any rate, last week I was disappointed they were closing.  This time around, I’m over it!  I’ll gladly go back to shopping  at Stop N Shop, Kings, the Farmer’s markets, and the meat markets around the area and augment all of that with the occasional on-line order.  They are offering 20% off everything right now.  Who knows if they will offer deeper discounts as the days pass.  I’m unsure I’ll go back to find out…