Photo: Queens Post
Nov. 1, 2018 By Christian Murray
National Wholesale Liquidators is closing its Long Island City store in a move that comes just two weeks after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The West Hempstead, New York-based company put up signage today announcing the closure of it 35-00 48th Street store, along with steep product discounts inside.
The store is located on a strip that has seen the closure of Toys R Us this year, with Danice also in the process of winding down.
National Liquidators is likely to close all of it 10 stores in the northeast, including one at 71-01 Kissena Blvd. in Flushing, citing liquidity issues.
“We’re working on trying to save the company,” said Phil DeGorter, National Wholesale Liquidators’ director of loss prevention and human resources. He said the company is looking to find a buyer that can rescue some of its stores.
The company has filed notice with the state that said 58 employees will lose their jobs when the 48th Street store closes, while 60 employees will be left jobless if their Flushing location shutters.
DeGorter, however, said it was too soon to say whether the Flushing location will shut down. “We’ll know in a couple of days,” he said.
Discount retailer National Wholesale Liquidators built its business capitalizing on retail bankruptcies, closeouts and opportunistic buys of unsold merchandise, which it then offered to shoppers at deep discounts.
The company once had a large presence across the Northeast and part of the Midwest.
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74 Comments
When is going to open PJ on northern boulevard and a story Queen New York I need to know what day is going open
They will be getting rid of Trader Joe’s in a sec. You just wait
They should really open a discount store cause there a lot of low income people that live around the neighborhood.
I googled “why did National Wholesale Liquidators close” because the location in Lodi, New Jersey just shut its doors. It may seem melodramatic to say I’m devastated but this is pretty close to how I feel. I look around my house and see all the things I’ve purchased at NWL over the years and just shake my head. They had merchandise I simply couldn’t find anywhere else. I will miss them and I was sorry to hear they filed for bankruptcy, always having believed they were doing a booming business.
i agree
How about putting a Wal-Mart in that location of 48th Street and 39th Avenue in Woodside Queens? Wal-Mart would bring in customers from all over the 5 boroughs of NYC and revitalize the area which looks like a ghost town! Finally, Wal-Mart would boost the economy and place unemployed folks back to work!
That’s will be great. Making jobs for folks. They need work so. They can take care of there. Family.
Nope!! With amazon coming to queens..the online shopping will be the way to go….sad to say
Wal-Mart is non union and that’s why they aren’t in the city
There are Many companies that aren’t Union, so what’s the Point! Soon many more will be closing along with many more establisments due to close from raising the waves to $15.00. Wait, you haven’t seen nothing yet! This will be coming to a neighborhood near all of us!
great idea keep money in town people already shopping at Walmart just across Queens border line
It won’t work because remember this. The 1’s loosing jobs are the small bussinesses around the area of woodside and L.I.C. And it would be bad for those who put in their effort to open their small bussiness and then losing it to a mega store.
Its sad to see this place go after so many years.. They sold clothing, food, and so many other goods for a cheap price. I’m going to honestly miss the guy that collected bags when you walked into the store..
Target maybe
Inagree
How about an indoor roller hockey rink that could also be used for other indoor sports and parties and events?
You are dreaming. America is broke.
How about making it a flea market.
Place had total junk. Maybe it was relevant back in the early 2000’s but now with e-commerce nobody wants this trash anymore.
A sneaker outlet
How about a Golden corral or a Lowe’s would be great.
Lowes is opening a new store in Douglaston in June.
OH YEAH PLEASE I WOULD LOVE A GOLDEN CORRAL
YANG 2020!!!
This place is awful. I can’t believe that even with their “sales” other places on the block are still cheaper with better quality goods.
Walmart would be great!
Trader JOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hmm
Bring back Pergament!!
Sad.
Ms.Dorfman,you did your HOME work..im impressed
A middle school???For more SCHOOL CONTRUCTION AUTHORITY???ON A MAJOR BOULEVARD??OH stop this insanity???please
This store is NOT on Northern Blvd. and is only a few blocks north from the original proposed middle school location. That proposed spot on 48th St. near 39th Ave. is still controversial not only because of the traffic snarl it would cause but also because that building is an architecturally significant building.
The National Liquidators spot would handle the school traffic much better, especially school buses, than the narrower corner on 48th St. on the other side of the tracks.
Former site of the world famous, long forgotten, Madison Square Bowl of Cinderella Man fame
Things are tough when the joblotter goes bankrupt. Talk about broke squared.
The bankruptcy ploy is a scam. This is the second time in less than 10 years they filed bankruptcy. They don’t pay the vendors and companies they order from and accept merchandise they have no intentions of paying for. Don’t believe this bankruptcy thing. It is only a money maker for the company. They run up bills and don’t pay them and then file bankruptcy and these other companies can never get the money owned to them. This company needs to repay all the other companies they screwed.
Strange, because company has been around since 1985, they wouldn’t last if they kept doing this, and if someone already filed bankruptcy there are measures in place when vendors deal with them. Are you making this all up or do you have some kind of source?
In either case, this place was never really “liquidator” type of place to begin with, yes they have very cheap garments, and some other merchandise, but then rest of their stuff are low quality or problem products. Otherwise I will be sad to see this place go because there are times when you don’t want to pay macy’s or raymour and flanigan’s nonsense prices for simple stuff..
It’s the American way.
Yes you are
Right in the money with their scam this is the third time they went under (supposedly)
Bring a Whole Foods to Queens! This would be a great spot. Even Trader Joes would be good..Thanks
There are already two large supermarkets in that area. Personally. I would like an Aldi’s.
There is an aldi in rego Park
we dont need more gentrification
Too bad I always Like to shop there
I would occasionally wander around in that store and eventually realize that I was not really going to find a great deal, that it was mostly low-quality merchandise sold at slightly discounted prices. Hard to imagine another company moving into this huge space and doing well.
No big loss the place is a dump..Hopefully the predatory tow truck company will be out of business…Incredible how they drag cars out of there with no blinkers or flashing lights and race up 48th st ignoring traffic lights and endangering other motorists.
Too bad. I used to shop at the Sunnyside and Flushing stores. Great deals on replacement H4 headlight bulbs, anti-freeze, oil, and cans of tire inflatants back when I had a car. Other things, the prices weren’t as good.
Too bad the new middle school can’t be built in this spot.
I liked pergement better.
Why, there’s a Home Depot across the street..
That parking lot is always towing people’s cars for absolutely no reason. They were opportunistic and now they have no tenants. Boo hoo.
Maybe the Department of Homeless Services can built a large men’s rooming house for ex-cons and parolees on site or better yet the site of the Sunnyside prison complex right in Jimmy Van Bramer’s backyard.
So typical,THE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE OVER..More nannies,hipsters,LIBs GENTRIFYING THEIR SUNNYSIDE GARDENS AREA THEY SUPPOSSEDLY DISCOVERED..Lets get rid of all the CRAPPY Stores and make this one great utopian village..ONLY AS LONG AS YOU ARE A DEM..All of the so called diversification of junk stores,bodegas,cheap Chinese food will all be gone..WE ARE TOLD FOR THE BETTERMENT..MY ASS..YEAH LETS PUT A TARGET THERE,WHAT THE HELL..SO LONG BED BUGS.THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS BECOMING WAY TO WHITE.THESE SOPHISTICATED PEOPLE DON’T SHOP IN CHEAP JOHNS,THEY ORDER OVER THE WEB..I M GOING FOR SUSHI,LET’S REALLY KILL THE OCEANS..TOO PRISTINE,TOO STERILE,TOO BORING THESE DAYS ARE BECOMING..SO LONG LIQUIDATORS, HELLO STARBUCKS
National Liquidators was anything but that. They sold at the same or at higher prices than Stop & Shop and Home Depot across the street. What’s the point of calling yourself a liquidator when you cant offer liquidation prices?
“ROAD DIET” from 2014..a grand plan to slowly rid cities of privately owned cars and use, bring down carbon emissions, encourage walking and cycling, sounds like a solid idea but in practice in woodside and sunnyside is killing our neighborhood…
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PASS SBJSA: to really bring down carbon emissions, stop overdeveloping nyc, displacing small businesses, jobs, people in favor of skyscrapers, ground floor retail space only affordable by chains. pass sbjsa so small businesses can survive at all…
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PITTING US AGAINST EACH OTHER: for the city administration to call what has happened here in woodside sunnyside “bicycle lanes,” when it is a seismic geographic and lifestyle change, first unleashing upon us a non-local national lobbying group against cars, transportation alternatives, was cruel…
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HYPOCRITICAL: for the city administration to make no sacrifice of its own, with the largest fleet in history, over 30,000 vehicles, with lavish use of permits, is hypocritical…
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REBNY RUNNING CITY: for the city to allow rebny the out-of-control land grab of nyc with 421-a, MIH, wide swatch rezoning such as forced upon inwood, and trying to grab sunnyside yards next, is cynical, undemocratic, and is destroying the city, block by block – and is a major addition to pollution…
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INFRASTRUCTURE ABSENT: to continue to “grow” population, with the attendant uptick of vehicles, in the absence of adequate mass transit, a basic civil need of a city, is incompetent…
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CITY GOING TO KILL US: with our first responders already blocked and delayed, with the FDNY warning the CM of the problems currently going on, in june of 2017, that is, inability to turn fire vehicles, inability to reach higher floors and delayed response time risking lives, is dangerous for all and a dereliction of duty to the people. the fdny video of a fire truck unable to get even get out of the local firehouse due to backed up traffic is chilling and horrifying…
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REMOVE ROAD RE-DESIGN NOW: Restore 43rd and Skillman
Here we are in 2018 with George and Pat teaching us all that aging needn’t occur gracefully!
A lot of old people’s families struggle with when to force them to stop driving. I’d argue these families should be taking away the computers ASAP!!!
Or at least disable the ALL CAPS key
feel better?
What do you expect in a once-great city that has been metamorphosed into a cultural wasteland that has been Gentrified, Disneyfied, and Nazified?
Its ashame that soon there will be no place for poor people to shop. But if the people wish to stop this all they need to do is shop directly from china online and cut out the middleman.
Just wondering what older people and people with no computers should go shopping now. That seems to be the type of patronage in NWL.
Where are all the low income people supposed to shop for cheap items. This is getting overwhelming that the online conglomerates are taking over everything. I guess no one cares about the little guys anymore. HEARTBREAKING ?
LOADED WITH BED BUGS AND THAT IS A FACT –
money talks, hunny. the poor are being pushed out, and in return improving the area. nobody is stopping you from educating yourself, and getting a better paying job so you can live in a better area in a nicer home. just because you want to stay stagnant and poor is your choice, and nobody else’s fault. opportunity is always there. no excuses!
Target will work real well here!!
Trader Joe’s please
I agree
Hope a Target opens up there.
I hope so
Great less trucks
Good riddance. Pure trash
Another one bites the dust..hope they don’t try to put apartments/condos there
don’t worry Mr. JVB’s hands are out already.
Bet they do and at metro mall also. Sad.