The Deli's New Owners

Back in late November, Joy and her husband Michael bought the Blissville Deli. Derek was tired, and he just wanted to get out.

Joy and Michael arrived in New York from Korea about 12 years ago.

The original owner of the deli was Mohammad, a civil engineer from Kabul who fled before the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Mohammad owned the deli for over 25 years. Finally he sold it to a Korean. But the Korean couldn't make a profit, so he sold it to Derek (from Guyana) who also wasn't able to make a profit from it.

Joy and Michael used to work in a deli on First Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan.

There they sold gourmet coffees, fine chocolates, and fresh flowers.

They know those things won't sell here.

People in Blissville are interested only in the basics,


whether for breakfast


or for lunch.


Michael dreams of bringing in a sushi chef.


But he has too many bills right now.


So he's sticking to what sells.


And what can make money for him.

He's addedonly a few new products.

Mostly he's tried to make it neater.

He took out the tinting from the windows, and now it's airier.

He wants to bring the deli back to the days when Mohammad ran it and the lines for breakfast and lunch stretched out the door and into the street. But does he know that all the neighboring factories have laid off at least half of their staff since September 11th, 2001?

Whatever he knows, he's trying a little of everything to bring in business. A month or so after buying the deli, he installed lights outside to attract early morning truckers.

He didn't change the price of the breakfast special.

So far a few have come in.

But he's a long way from recovering his $1500 investment for those lights.

He thought cigarette sales could make up some of the loss.

But someone must have reported him. He needed a licence to sell them. He had to pay for both the hefty ticket and the license.

The following day he got a ticket for letting customers drink beer inside the deli. He needed another license for that. He thought because Derek didn't have a license for drinking in the deli, he didn't need one. But without the tinted windows, the police had no choice but to give him a ticket. His lawyer cost him even more.

This must have been a frightening time for him and Joy. They began to take shortcuts. They started to brew old coffee grains.

They thought their customers wouldn't notice.

But they did.

Everyone would like Joy and Michael to succeed. Their success benefits the whole neighborhood.

In the meantime, they've switched to tea.