Gourmet Glatt in talks to buy Brach’s; Deal with Brooklyn’s KRM ‘kollel’ discount supermarket falls thru

Plans by Brooklyn’s KRM/Moisha’s discount supermarket to buy the shuttered Brach’s store in Lawrence have collapsed, and now Gourmet Glatt is in the market for the expansive space — formerly a bowling alley — at 11 Lawrence Lane. Brach’s closed after Pesach.

Jack Brach confirmed this week that the store would not be acquired by KRM/Moisha’s and that he was “close to a deal” with another purchaser. He said that he would “leave it to them” to make any announcement.

Several sources said that the buyer-in-waiting was Gourmet Glatt, the Cedarhurst-based supermarket that recently opened a second Five Towns store at the site of a former Key Food in Woodmere. Gourmet Glatt, which also has outlets in Boro Park and Lakewood, did not respond to requests for comment.

News that Brach’s deal with KRM — also known as the “kollel” supermarket — had fallen through, and that Gourmet Glatt was stepping in, was first reported by the Kosher Guru blog.

Brach’s closing strengthened Gourmet Glatt’s dominance in the Five Towns and Far Rockaway area, where the Season’s chain, with a supermarket in Lawrence and an “express” location near the Inwood LIRR station, also competes. In Far Rockaway, a Williamsburg grocer recently took over Kosher World on Cornaga Avenue and renamed it Frankel’s.