The cost of living is a big issue in Greenpoint, and Jubilee had developed a reputation for being expensive. (File Photo)The owner of a Brooklyn grocery store has apologised to customers after they complained about rising prices and is now working long hours to reduce the cost of thousands of items.Young Kim, chief executive of Jubilee Marketplace in Greenpoint, New York, posted an open letter on Instagram on Sunday titled “Dear Greenpoint.” In it, he wrote: “I just want to say I’m sorry for the high prices and you were right.” He used stronger language in the original message, according to The New York Times.Kim said he started changing prices after overhearing customers complain while shopping in his store. That same night, he visited nearby supermarkets to compare prices. He then decided to either match or beat them.So far, prices on about 15% of the store’s items have been lowered. Kim said his goal is to eventually review and adjust every product in the shop. He’s spending up to 14 hours a day on the shop floor, checking prices and updating labels.Also read | Why I miss my local kirana store: Confessions of a serial delivery-app user“If you bought a product yesterday and I changed it today, you overspent yesterday,” Kim told The New York Times.The cost of living is a big issue in Greenpoint, and Jubilee had developed a reputation for being expensive. On Reddit, one local thread was titled “Grocery Prices at Jubilee Are Offensive.” While the store’s $2.75 burger is popular and often praised, shoppers have frequently said the prices on the shelves are too high.Kim admitted that the issue had been bothering him for some time. He said he and a manager had recently gone to a nearby chain supermarket to shop for around 20 common items. At first, the individual price differences seemed small, only about 50 cents to $1 cheaper. But at the checkout, the total bill was roughly $30 less than what the same items would cost at Jubilee. “That’s a number that you can’t really ignore,” Kim said.Story continues below this adJubilee’s high prices were partly due to a pricing system that added an average markup of 60 to 70% on wholesale costs. While this method is common among small shops, it made Jubilee seem expensive compared to big chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, which can get better deals from suppliers and absorb some costs.Also read | The grocery store of the mindKim has now committed to a much bigger and less common step repricing the entire store. “If you think about the labour alone, to get in and do the analysing of the numbers and then changing prices throughout the store, it’s a really large undertaking,” said Laura Strange of the National Grocers Association, speaking to The New York Times.Some items have already seen big reductions. A box of organic peaches from Frog Hollow Farm is now $6.99, down from its previous price. Rotisserie chickens that once sold for almost $7 per pound now cost $5 each — less than it costs the store to prepare them. Kim said: “That’s kind of my apology to the community for not listening.”Whether the store can stay profitable while keeping prices low remains to be seen. “I don’t know if he fully understands the consequences,” said Rob Martinez, who makes videos about small food businesses. “I assume he does.”Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Brooklyn