Reporter Rose Weldon’s article in the April 3rd issue of The Great Neck News entitled “Raindew accused of price gouging,” was highly unprofessional, in that it never explained the regulations or laws of the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs that led to the store being fined an enormous amount of money for what appear to be either reasonable price markups based on what they paid for the merchandise, or in the case of the individual masks, a higher markup due to their scarcity.
It is essential for readers to know the facts behind these fines before we can make a proper assessment of the situation. Providing such facts in a dispute such as this is a basic procedure for any reporter.
As a long time customer of Raindew, I have found the store to be exemplary in terms of merchandise available, prices, friendly and very helpful staff and owners, and a willingness to go out of their way to please their customers, including ordering merchandise that they may not regularly carry.
It is not only a favorite store of mine but of many hundreds and more likely thousands of local residents, some of whom travel some distance to shop there.
The fine that is allegedly being assessed against the store seems all out of proportion to whatever they may have done wrong and requires an explanation for those of us who read the newspaper and expect such explanations.
If this enormous fine is found to be in line with the alleged actions by the store, I am certain it would be a considerable hardship to Raindew, a store that specializes in lower-priced merchandise and almost certainly does not make huge profits.
I hope your reporter or another reporter will look more carefully into this issue and provide readers with a clear and factual explanation for the actions against one of our best and most valued stores.
Raindew is a treasure for our area and I hope you will show them the respect they deserve by providing us with all of the essential facts and why markups that appear fair to the average customer are, in fact, criminal and deserving of the action that has been taken.
Diane Coffield
Great Neck
