Gourmet Glatt expected to remain closed for a week

At 4:15 a.m. on Thursday, Mayer Gold, the owner of Seasons, a kosher supermarket in Cedarhurst, received a call from Moshe Ratner, the general manager of Gourmet Glatt Emporium, another kosher supermarket.

Ratner told Gold that Gourmet Glatt had a fire and he needed someone to take his deliveries. Without hesitation Gold jumped in to help. Glatt’s deliveries went to Seasons and nearly 20 Gourmet Glatt employees are currently working at Seasons, alongside Seasons’ employees and Seasons will remain open to midnight Thursday to accommodate shoppers.

“Though we are competition, we are friends,” said Gold, who added that Gourmet Glatt did the same thing earlier this year when a day before Gold’s Queens store was to open in April, it too had a fire — deemed arson — and Gourmet Glatt assisted in taking in food from Seasons.

Having the purple-shirted Seasons employees working side-by-side with the green-shirted Glatt staffers is a sight to see, Gold said. “We are very happy to help, they are good people,” he said, referring to Gourmet Glatt’s owners, managers and employees.

Only a competitor in the same industry could understand what you go through, said Yeoli Steinberg, a general manager at Gourmet Glatt, who added that Seasons help is greatly appreciated. “It brings great merit to both, it’s an inspiration, he said, noting that there are Gourmet Glatt shopping carts at Seasons in addition to the employees and food.

The Thursday morning fire caused extensive damage to the basement of Gourmet Glatt, at 137 Spruce Street, according to Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department Chief Joseph Sperber.

Sperber said the fire call came in at 12:39 a.m. and his department, along with Inwood, Hewlett and Woodmere fire departments responded. The fire was declared under control 30 minutes later, the chief said and firefighters were on the scene for an hour and a half. Long Beach Fire Department covered for Lawrence-Cedarhurst.

The fire began between a food preparation area and a refrigeration unit in the store’s basement, said Sperber, who noted that the store’s sprinkler system was also activated by the fire. Two employees at work at the time suffered smoke inhalation, but were treated at the scene.