Murray's Cheese is an

artisanal An artisan (from , ) 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, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

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, born Moische Schuchelmann a Ukrainian-

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrant, 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. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

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 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'' 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 Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

in 2002, in 2008 a

charcuterie Charcuterie (, , also , ; ; from , and ) is a branch of French cuisine devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, Terrine (food), terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballotines'', ''pâtés'', and ''confit'', primarily from pork. Ch ...

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'' (), 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, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

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 () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

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 Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock ...

facility in their warehouse in

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. 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 Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 and Kannada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar ...

, 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 university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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 Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

such as

Havarti Havarti () or cream havarti () 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 production began in 1921. I ...

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 Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

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 ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''.

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