1 8
1 8
The Food Emporium store nestled underneath the Queensboro Bridge at 1st Avenue in Manhattan closed Saturday. The store held the dubious distinction of having been the only operating Food Emporium store in the chain that didn’t find a new parent during bankruptcy auctions held by parent company A&P.
The 35,000-square-foot store is also noted for its ornate arched ceilings created by famed Spanish designer Rafael Gustavino, whose works adorn several landmarks in the U.S. including the Boston Public library, the City Hall subway station, Carnegie Hall and Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York, among others.
As a retail site, the “Bridgemarket” never performed to the standards its style would have suggested, prompting an analyst to describe it to SN once as “the most gorgeous white elephant in the industry.” The photos in the slideshow were captured during the store’s final hours of operation Saturday.
A passerby peers into The Food Emporium store during its final hour of operation.
The building’s façade highlights the arched curvature of the ceiling inside and its positioning beneath the Queensboro Bridge.
A&P opened the Bridgemarket store in 1999 after a lengthy wait, and revamped the store in 2006, but the store never did adequate sales volume.
Get your vacuum bags: Leftover items on this shelf were selling at 5 cents on the dollar.
Supplies and equipment could be had at deep discounts.
The emptying store helped reveal its stunning columns, large windows and ornate tiled ceiling.
The sale at Food Emporium Saturday occurred at dozens of additional A&P stores that went unsold at auction and closed late Saturday.
![](https://www.supermarketnews.com/sites/supermarketnews.com/files/styles/gal_landscape_main_2_standard/public/gallery_images/1FoodEmporium.jpg?itok=B3utbXIy)