I shop in Flushing all the time, the place on Main is great but so are all the others. The fish
chicken, veggies, and fruit are always fresh and cheap. Flushing seems to be immune to supply chain
issues, inflation, and price gouging. You don't need a weekly circular in Flushing it's cheap every day
I got a pair of running gloves for less the $5 on the street
yesterday. I used to get the same gloves for 6 or 7 on Amazon now they are up to $12 and higher. Amazon is
not cheap anymore but Flushing sure is.
Yes, there is more than one reason to go to Flushing
In addition, you are exposed to a variety of indigenous Chinese foods and products unavailable outside of that small radius, ie rarer fruits like guava, lychee, Longan, a vaster array of green vegetables, and dried vegetation like mushrooms and herbs, and rarer varieties of black chickens, aquatic foods and visceral organ meats. I once saw a freshly dismembered crocodile on ice.
The prices are great because the Chinese are intelligent thrifty consumers, and vendors are often selling the same products side by side. If a store is overpriced or not fresh, they are shown no loyalty. We have seen many stores collapse after a few months.
The stores are under tremendous pressure to move stock extremely quickly and turn over a quick but meager profit because the rents are astronomical and there is a long line of business entrepreneurs begging and competing for a chance to take over a store and try their hand.
The consumer always benefits from the competition breathing down each others’ necks.