24 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 7, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Enjoy unlimited wine and sample some amazing,
unique desserts at LIC festival this July
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jenna_bagcal
Get ready for a weekend fi lled with
unlimited wine and sweets in Long Island
City.
Th e Wine and Sweets Fest returns to
LIC Flea and Food for a second year.
Th is year’s festival takes place the weekend
of July 7-8 at the waterfront market
located at 5-25 46th Ave. Guests will
get the opportunity to taste unlimited
samples of wine curated by a New York
City wine professional as well as taste a
unique array of sweets from the over 20
local sweet vendors that are slated to be
at the event.
Niko Triantafi llou is this year’s tastemaker
for the event, a role which involves
choosing the businesses and vendors who
will get to showcase their food to attendees.
He was also one of about 15 tastemakers
for Th e World’s Fare back in
April.
Th e writer, critic, and photographer
has been writing about the world of pastry
since 2006. Th at year, he started his
website and food blog called DessertBuzz,
which later led to him contributing to
publications like Saveur, Wine4Food,
Serious Eats NY and StarChefs.
Th e native New Yorker was born in
the Chelsea section of Manhattan and
became interested in food early on. Both
his maternal and paternal grandfathers
owned food establishments when he was
growing up.
Triantafi llou said he is currently in
the process of reaching out to the businesses
who might be in attendance and
shared that being the event’s tastemaker
is “harder than it sounds.” He said that
the process involves choosing vendors
who are the best fi t based on their location
and experience, while ensuring that
there is not more than one vendor per
category.
Th ough the food writer said that the list
of vendors has not been confi rmed, he
promises that there will be a wide variety
of wine and sweets to suit all tastes.
Photo via Flickr/Rod
Rosedale Kmart closing; just one location remains in Queens
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Attention Kmart shoppers in Queens:
You’re losing another “blue light special”
store.
Th e Kmart store in Rosedale at 253-01
Rockaway Blvd., near the Nassau/Queens
border, is among the 72 Kmart and Sears
department stores nationwide slated for
closure this summer, as announced on
Th ursday. Liquidation sales are slated to
begin on or about June 14, and the doors
will permanently close in September.
Sears Holdings Inc., parent company
of Kmart and Sears, disclosed the latest
round of store closings on May 31 as
part of its quarterly earnings report. Like
many other brick-and-mortar stores, the
chains have suff ered precipitous losses in
sales with greater competition online.
In recent years, dozens of Kmart and
Sears stores have shuttered across the
United States as the company sought to
stop the bleeding. Among the casualties
was the Sears store in Rego Park, which
closed last year.
Sears Holdings deemed the Rosedale
Kmart and the other Kmart and Sears
stores slated for closure this summer as
being “non-profi table.” Eligible employees
at the Rosedale Kmart will receive
severance packages and have the opportunity
to fi ll open positions at other
Sears and Kmart stores in the New York
City area.
“We continue to evaluate our network
of stores, which are a critical component
in our transformation, and will
make further adjustments as needed
and as warranted,” according to a Sears
Holdings statement.
Spared from the latest round of closures,
however, is the Middle Village
Kmart, located at 66-26 Metropolitan
Ave. Once the Rosedale Kmart store
closes for good, it will be the last Kmart
left in Queens.
Th e Middle Village Kmart has already
outlasted its next door neighbor, Toys R
Us, which closed earlier this year as the
national chain went bankrupt.
Photo via Google Maps
The Kmart store on Rockaway Boulevard in Rosedale is closing this September.
Triantafi llou added that this event is
a great opportunity for attendees to try
sweets they have not yet tried, and also an
opportunity for the small businesses that
he chooses to showcase their off erings.
Th e two-day event is on July 7 and 8
from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets for the event
come at two price points. General admission
tickets are $29 plus fees and includes
two hours of unlimited wine tasting and
a souvenir tasting glass. Patrons can also
purchase early admission tickets, which
go for $39 plus fees and is good for two
and a half hours of wine tasting and a
souvenir tasting glass.
Visit www.eventbrite.com/e/winesweets
fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebtnebtckt
to purchase tickets.
/wine-sweets-fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebt-nebtcktto
link
/wine-sweets-fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebt-nebtcktto
/@jenna_bagcal
/wine-sweets-fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebt-nebtcktto
/wine-sweets-fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebt-nebtcktto
/wine-sweets-fest-tickets-46088223116?ref=ebt-nebtcktto
