The City of Philadelphia has taken the landowners of 4301 Walnut Street, where the Supreme Shop n Bag is located, to court to pay more than $158,000 in property taxes.
The city filed a “sequestration” case against Gladwynne-based EFBEE Associates, owners of the property, in municipal court on July 11. The School District of Philadelphia, which would receive much of the taxes collected, is also named as a plaintiff (see the file below). A sequestration hearing is typically the last resort on commercial properties owing back taxes on the 66,000-square-foot parcel and will likely result in the garnishing of rental income – so Supreme will pay the city its rent instead of the landowner – until the back taxes are paid.
EFBEE has 20 days to respond to the sequestration order.
A case management hearing has been set for 1 p.m. August 31 in courtroom 531 at City Hall.
The City’s petition to appoint a sequestrator to collect back taxes on 4301 Walnut Street. (Click to enlarge)
July 19th, 2016 at 5:00 pm
Considering that for the last 8 or so years they’ve refused to fix the 4 broken checkout lanes, I can’t say that I’m hopeful for the city. The prices aren’t even good! They are regularly more expensive than the co-op, Giant, shopright, etc…
Please do not shop at this terrible grocery store.
July 19th, 2016 at 9:42 pm
I hate this place. It is expensive and it is not uncommon to find expired products sitting on the shelfs. It lacks any basic sense of hygiene and they treat poorly the employees. It does, however, accept food stamps and, thus, it serves a purpose within the community. Since a few days ago you could tell something bad was going on – they have shorted supplies in a very aggressive way. It is a shame that they will have to pay for their landlord’s mistakes, but the problems there are way beyond this tax issue.
July 20th, 2016 at 8:34 am
Does anyone else remember when this place was renovated and reopened under new management, promising to be a totally new place with a wide selection? Broken check out belts, no credit/debit cards accepted at random times, empty shelves (now we know why), high prices, expired food, rotting meat smell permeating everything, a ridiculous bag check policy that is only enforced if you look a certain way, and now evidence that the owner is shorting our underfunded school system. The neighborhood needs a grocery store, but I can’t say I’d be devastated if this place got shut down and sold to a responsible owner who could actually renovate and overhaul it.
July 20th, 2016 at 9:21 am
Everyone has valid points, but are misreading (I believe) the article. It’s not the store that is not paying its taxes, its the land owner, from which the store rents. There’s no mention of the store being on the hook for additional rent,it’s just that the store will change who it sends its rent to. If the land is eventually seized by the city and reosold, the new owner may or may not want a grocery store there.
July 20th, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Just want to mention that Mariposa also accepts EBT (foodstamps) in case people aren’t aware.
July 20th, 2016 at 2:13 pm
The property owner is Harold Friedland, who used to own and run the Thriftway when it was at that location. Not surprised at the tax thing: when I worked there, his managers ran a multimillion dollar coupon scam. (We’d get the Inky’s lifestyle sections on Saturday nights. They’d go right to the basement, where managers would pull the coupons, and turn them in for the reimbursement as though they’d been used by customers.) They got caught at this in the early 1990s, I think, and paid a quarter-million fine.
So the land is owned by Friedland, but the supermarket is owned by someone else. Thing is, if Friedland sells the land, the next owner’ll have to make it earn lot of money real fast. Might be nice if a better supermarket chain bought it outright. (Just not a Whole Foods.)