Murray's Cheese is an

artisanal An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

cheese and specialty foods retailer and wholesaler based in

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. It was founded in Greenwich Village in 1962 as a spinoff of Glen Alden farms, an egg and dairy wholesaler. The company later expanded, and in 2012 opened a restaurant in Manhattan named Murray's Cheese Bar. In February 2017 the franchise was acquired by the Kroger Company.As of 2021, there are more than 800 locations,

History

The store was founded by Murray Greenberg in Greenwich Village in 1962 initially as a spinoff of an egg and dairy wholesaler, Glen Alden Farms. Louis Tudda later took over as the store's owner until 1991, when the store was purchased by Robert Kaufelt, who published the 2006 book ''The Murray's Cheese Handbook''. Murray's formed a partnership with the Kroger Company in 2007 to place branded shops selling cheese and other foods in select Kroger supermarkets in the United States. New York City Mayor

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was ma ...

during his lifetime was among the specialty store's faithful customers. Murray's was voted the "Best Cheese Shop in New York" by ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' in 2007.''Time Out New York'', April 12–18, 2007; Issue 602 After a second location was opened in New York's Grand Central Market in Grand Central Terminal in 2002, in 2008 a

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballo ...

named Murray's Real Salami opened, also in Grand Central Market. In 2010 the two Grand Central Market locations merged to become a second flagship store. After 2010, Murray's has since expanded to include a 48-seat cheese-centered wine bar and restaurant (also located in Greenwich Village) named Murray's Cheese Bar, opened in 2012. On February 7, 2017, it was announced that Kroger Company had purchased Murray's Cheese. In 2021 an article by Andrew Silverstein in

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

refuted an odd couple of facts in the purported mythos of Murray's; first correcting that it was founded circa 1962 rather than 1940, and second that Greenberg did not fight in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

as then stated on the Murray's cheese website.

Gallery

Cheese_box_Camembert_Murray%27s_FR-78-077-002_top_side

The store ages cheese in a state-of-the-art caves facility in their warehouse in Long Island City. The company has a line of Cave Master exclusive cheese, which is aged in its caves. In 2016, Murray's launched a new Cave Master variation titled Annelies, made in cooperation with Swiss cheese maker Walter Räss. In April 2017, Murray's Cheese introduced a new exclusive

cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...

, Ezra, to its Cave Master line. It was the first "cheese created from initial concept into R&D by Murray’s, made by Murray’s, and then aged in Murray’s Cheese caves." The Ezra cheese was developed in collaboration with

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and Old Chatham Creamery in New York. The store sells

Danish cheeses Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

such as

Havarti Havarti () or cream havarti ( da, flødehavarti) is a semisoft Danish cow's milk cheese. It can be sliced, grilled, or melted. History Havarti was previously called "Danish Tilsiter" after the German cheese type tilsiter. Danish productio ...

and

Tilsit cheese Tilsit cheese or Tilsiter cheese is a pale yellow semihard smear-ripened cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The original buildings from the cheese plant still exist i ...

, and in April 2017, it added a collection of artisanal organic Danish cheeses. The company imported a dozen types, including Danish White Cheese, Vita Mundo, Flora Mundo, Versterhavsost, and Trelleborg.

Classes

In July 2017, the company launched its Game of Tommes class, which has a cheeseboard inspired by '' Game of Thrones''.

References

External links

*
Profile at Kroger
{{Kroger Dairy products companies of the United States Food retailers of the United States Retail companies based in New York City Cheese retailers American companies established in 1940 Retail companies established in 1940 1940 establishments in New York City Kroger 2017 mergers and acquisitions