More like Sagaponack General Chaos!
Page Six hears that huffy Hamptonites are accusing the billionaire owners of a trendy mom and pop shop of grocery misconduct after the spot became such a hit that it’s creating pandemonium in the hamlet. But the owners tell Page Six they’re “actively working with the village” to smooth things out.
The Sagaponack General Store, located in the second-wealthiest ZIP code in the country, was founded in 1878 but shut down during COVID. New owners snapped it up, gave it a multi-million dollar makeover and have been doing a roaring trade selling pastries, fresh-cut flowers, local produce whimsically displayed in a rusic barrow, $15 breakfast burritos, “penny candy” for $20-a-pound, and the like.
But the more popular it gets, we hear, the less popular it gets, as insiders snipe that customers and their cars are jamming up the residential street on which it sits all weekend long.
“They’re making so many enemies,” said a retail tattletale, “The police have sent a crossing guard! People are parking all over people’s lawns. It’s a nightmare.”
Adding to the ire, they say, the store is “a billionaire’s wife’s pet project.”
Mindy Gray, wife of Blackstone’s multi-billionaire president and COO Jon Gray, bought the store for a reported $3.8million during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, and reopened in April of this year.
According to Air Mail, the store — with its reclaimed-wood shelves and windows offering pictureseque views of the surrounding farmland — was designed by archtiect Frank Greenwald, “a favorite of Ina Garten’s.” Greenwald also renovated its front porch.
“The whole idea always was to walk into the space and feel like you’re stepping back in time and really feeling the echoes of this rich history here,” Mindy told Airmail.
Apparently the echoes of rich history — or something — worked, because our irked insider says the “lines spill out into the street” on summer weekends.
“It’s absurd,” the Out-Easter sniffed.
Mindy told Page Six: “I have been blown away by the community’s support for the General Store, but recognize its popularity has created some unexpected traffic issues.”
“I know it’s not perfect right now and we are actively working with the Village to make it better,” she said, ” As we get things sorted, huge thanks to the [local] police for their help and the community for their patience.”
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