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Whole Foods in a Pickle

by Aliza Wasserman · July 6th, 2007
Grocery, Jewish Culture, Kosher, New York, News, Supermarkets, Vegetables

NYPost reports on a dispute over the authenticity of the new Bowery Whole Foods’ Guss’ Pickles supplier:

July 5, 2007 — It’s a case of the big pickle versus the little gherkin. A pickle peddler says she’s soured on trendy Whole Foods, claiming the chain of supermarkets has been buying legendary Guss’ Pickles from a Bronx rival she accuses of ripping off the famous name. “Whole Foods is selling the pickles [as if ] they are coming from the Lower East Side’s Guss’ Pickles,” said owner Patricia Fairhurst. “They never came from me. I am Guss’ Pickles.”

The briny brouhaha stems from a legal battle between Fairhurst’s 85-year-old store on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side and another business, United Pickle in The Bronx. Fairhurst insists that United Pickle stop using the Guss’ name synonymous with sours and dills. Both sides are due in Manhattan federal court July 16 to fight over the name - but Fairhurst accuses Whole Foods in the meantime of using the Guss’ Pickles brand to sell a rival’s inferior product in a new Bowery store.

A Whole Foods Market spokesman, however, insisted that United Pickle - run by the Leibowitz family - is the true purveyor of the pickle name.

I guess we’ll see on July 16th who the “real” Guss is…Wikipedia and NYTimes Select have the full scoop:

In 2006, Tim [Baker, former owner of Guss, several owners after Isidor Guss] sold his ownership of Guss’ Pickles and left a legal mess in its wake. A buyer in Woodmere, NY claims to have bought the name Guss’ Pickles from Tim, while the actual store, which moved from its historic location on Essex Street to a storefront within the Lower East Side Tenement Museum was sold to someone else. The two parties are now battling in court for the rights to the name Guss’ Pickles.

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3 Responses to “Whole Foods in a Pickle”

  1. Eric Says:
    July 8th, 2007 at 12:18 am

    I just noticed a whole refrigerated case of Gus’ Pickles at my local Whole Foods in Manhassett, NY today! But I’m kind of on a bread & butter kick right now, so I didn’t buy any of these controversial cukes.

  2. D Says:
    July 9th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

    The original Guss’ was on Essex Street. Was bought by Tim Baker. Eventually sold to its current owner - located on Orchard Street, Pat fairhurst. Tim’s no longer involved in the business, but there is an LI-based pickler who tries to use the original guss’ name…Tim moved out of the LES. Pickle Day is coming up in September. Maybe you can ask for yourself? it’s the best event ever.

  3. David Sternlight Says:
    July 27th, 2007 at 12:44 am

    One should read the legal papers, available on the web, from both parties. I have and it seems to this non-legal mind that the case boils down to the following:

    Tim Baker owned the name. He borrowed money from Leibowitz, putting up the name, good will, customer list, etc. as security. He didn’t repay the loan. Leibowitz thus alleges the name etc became his, and he registered it with the USPTO.

    Meanwhile, Baker subsequently sold the store to Patricia Fairhurst (a non-jew who keeps the place closed on Shabbos out of “tradition”). Fairhurst claims when she bought the store she got the rights to the name, but hasn’t thus far provided any evidence to support her claim AFAIK. Baker, for his part, haa been quoted (rather disingenuously to my ears) as saying that he didn’t sell the name to Leibowitz because no money changed hands.

    If Leibowitz can prove that security for the defaulted loan by Baker was the name, goodwill, and customer list, then not only doesn’t Fairhurst have a case, but also Baker is not being completely forthcoming, it seems to this observer.

    On the other hand, if Leibowitz has no hard evidence, then the case becomes Solomonic and the judge will have to decide as between Leibowitz’ long standing personal and pickle production relationship with Guss, and Fairhurst’s shop purchase.

    The press is taking sides, in a rather silly way reflective of their ideology. Some articles depict Fairhurst as a struggling heroine. Others depict her as someone who cancelled her business relation with Leibowitz and as a consequence is suffering the consequences. Leibowitz, meanwhile, appears to be taking the position that if Fairhurst returns to his supplier’s fold, all will be forgiven. The core of Leibowitz’ argument is that he owns the name, and if you buy pickles from his wholesale firm they are Guss’ pickles, otherwise not.

    I am reminded of the famous Vienna case in which Demel’s and the Hotel Sacher sued each other over who had the rights to the Sachertorte name (Joseph Wecshberg wrote a long Esquire piece on the matter some years ago). Without going into the claims on both sides, the judge, in a marvel of Solomonic wisdom, ruled that Hotel Sacher and only Hotel Sacher could call their product “The Original” (Das Original) Sachertorte; Demel’s and only Demel’s could call their product “The Genuine” (Die Echte) Sachertorte, and no other bakery could use the name Sachertorte.

    David Sternlight
    Los Angeles

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