A day wandering through an old grocery store, a famous discount shop, and my first food-price shock in New York.
December 9, 2024
Morning Visit to Zabar’s
After my friend dropped her kids off at school, she took me to Zabar’s (see on map), a long-established supermarket. I love visiting supermarkets in foreign countries.
They sold original tote bags, had a deli section, a seafood section (mostly pre-processed items), a bakery, and a wide variety of dairy products. It was fun just to walk around and look.
My friend bought French butter—Échiré—for USD 12.49.
The same product costs around 3,500 yen in Japan, so it’s actually cheaper in New York.
Since it was Christmas season, fir trees were being sold on the streets.
Heading to the World Trade Center Area
We took the subway to the World Trade Center Station (see on map).
Something about the massive scale of the station reminded me of Attack on Titan.
Our destination was Century 21 (see on map), a well-known discount store—not related to the real estate company with mustard-colored jackets. It’s an off-price outlet.
I had told my friend that I wanted to buy a down jacket, and through her “mom network,” she found out that Century 21 had just received a big stock of them. So she brought me there.
The information turned out to be spot-on—there were tons of down jackets at all price ranges, from about USD 70 to over USD 1,000.
Everything seemed heavily discounted compared to the original prices, but I didn’t buy anything in the end.
Lunch and Sticker Shock at Shake Shack
When lunchtime came, we checked out the food court connected to the station, but it was packed.
So instead, We bought burgers and drinks from Shake Shack and took them home to eat.
Two burgers and two drinks came to USD 30.13.
That’s… expensive. And that’s without tipping since it was takeout. Way too expensive.
It made me wonder if I could actually enjoy my stay in New York—on the very first day of sightseeing, worry was already outweighing excitement.
Out of curiosity, I checked Shake Shack’s Japan website.
A Double ShackBurger costs 1,404 yen, and a lemonade costs 572 yen.
Buying two of each totals 3,952 yen—which is already expensive. So maybe Shake Shack has always been pricey, even in Japan.
In short, it wasn’t that America was too expensive; Shake Shack itself is expensive.
The restaurant simply falls outside what I personally consider “affordable fast food,” and I’m definitely not their target customer.
Still, as my friend said, “New York is more expensive than other U.S. cities,” and with the yen’s decline since 2022, it’s clear that New York is no longer an easy destination for Japanese travelers.
