Woodridge, NY - More and More Kosher Stores to Stay Open During Winter

Woodridge, NY - The regulars in Woodridge have in recent years noticed that some of the temporary congregants from over the summer months come back periodically even in the dead of winter.

They are some of the thousands of Jews, mostly from New York, who now own second homes in the celebrated Catskill Mountains. But also is the Catskills becoming the year-round home for many young Orthodox couples who can not afford housing elsewhere.
The combination of the more frequent visits by the second home owners and the increase in the number of year-round dwellers has prompted the kosher supermarket's there to stay open all year. “It’s an experiment for us,” said a young man manning the cashier in one of the kosher supermarket's on the day before Labor Day, “many people have pleaded with us to offer kosher all year and we’ll give it a shot.”
For the larger stores like Wal-Mart and ShopRite, the departure of the nearly 300,000 Jews who vacation in the Catskills meant that it was time to wind down, although the stores keep some kosher products year-round.

According to kosher purveyors, this was a record year for their Catskills sales, with one volunteering a guess of $20 million for the two months. He recalled that several years ago, Wal-Mart estimated their sales of kosher foods over the summer at $2.5 million. “They must have done almost double that this year,” he suggested. The evidence is that sales for many of the purveyors increased by nearly 20%.
Several new year-round communities are being planned, which may very well make it more than an experiment for the kosher supermarket's.