Judaica shop to open in Village of Great Neck

Joe Nikic

Village of Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral said Tuesday the village has made progress in attempting to fill store vacancies, with Judaica of Great Neck in the process of opening in the old village.

At Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, resident David Zielenziger asked the board if they were aware of any applications for new businesses to fill the number of store vacancies on Middle Neck Road.

“One of the stores that went to contract was the Judaica that is moving from the Plaza to our village,” Bral said.

Judaica of Great Neck, which is currently located at 107 Middle Neck Road in the Village of Great Neck of Plaza, is a boutique shop that offers various Jewish products.

Yossi Gurevitch, the Vice President of Judaica of Great Neck, said the shop was struggling due to competition with the Internet.

“We were there for 22 years,” Gurevitch said. “It was always a little difficult, but the last couple of years it became impossible to continue.”

While Bral said talks between Judaica of Great Neck and a Middle Neck Road landlord have began, Deputy Clerk Katie Dugan said no application had been filed with the village.

Gurevitch said they were waiting to finish legal processes before beginning to renovate their new location at 581b Middle Neck Road.

“We are still open until probably the end of this month to try to sell as much as possible in discount prices. We want to start fresh in a new location,” he said. “Hopefully it will not take more than a few weeks to fix up the new place. As soon as everything is worked out we are going to move to the new place.”

Bral also said at the meeting he knew of other businesses who have shown interest in coming to Great Neck, but was unsure if it would work out.

“I think there are a couple other ones but I’m not so sure if they’re going to go further with it. We’re waiting,” he said. “I gave them the green light and said we are eagerly waiting for them to come forward.”

Over the past two months, Bral has met with local business officials and residents to discuss the needs of both businesses and consumers in Great Neck to improve the struggling businesses.  

“In those meetings, even though we tried to publicize it, unfortunately not a lot of people came,” he said.

Bral said he wanted the help of residents and others interested in identifying potential village businesses.

“I think what we need to do is to really find out what are the needs of the people locally to bring it out,” he said. “I think this goes to everybody in the village.”

Bral also said he was looking to meet with representatives and midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to determine what the village can do to attract younger people to local businesses.

He said he wanted to hold the meeting the first week of February.

“I’m hoping that the first Wednesday we will be putting on the schedule to meet with the younger people in the Merchant Marine Academy to find out what are exactly their requirements and their needs to keep their business here in Great Neck,” Bral said.

He said he knew the process to fill store vacancies was long, but it is necessary to improving the village’s businesses.

“It takes steps,” Bral said. “One step at a time to find out exactly.”

The next board meeting is on Jan. 19.

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