Hiring difficulties may be forcing a delay of opening Trade Joe’s new UES store under the historic Queensboro Bridge. Bridgemarket was expected to welcome shoppers in October, but all that happened was the hanging of a banner about hiring. And there it stood, all month. But it wasn’t alone.
By David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
Now Hiring Difficulties
A job search on Trader Joe’s website displays multiple openings at the 59th Street site. Hiring difficulties are also apparent with similar notices out at nearby stores in Turtle Bay and Chelsea. Although the eagerly awaited chain is tight-lipped about missing the expected opening, struggles at finding and training workers for even above-average paying jobs is apparent.
News reports call it a nationwide phenomenon.
At this point, the chain gives up only a “this year” pledge for opening, but who knows? Not only have their own struggles held them back so far, but they compete with numerous other New York businesses for the same pool of workers.
Because Trader Joe’s is so hesitant about sharing their woes, we’re speculating here, but the evidence is clear. And nothing else appears as a genuine obstacle to opening Bridgemarket.
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Who Does This?
At the June 18 meeting of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee, President and Chief Executive Officer B.J. Jones acknowledged that there had been no progress finding a tenant for the long-discussed medical space on Main Street. Hudson/Related Realty LLC had told him that filling the space, along with other vacant storefronts, was proving more difficult than expected.
