N.Y. Woman Wins Contest to Name New Kosher Supermarket

A new kosher gourmet supermarket set to make its debut at the end of next month in Queens, N.Y., community of Kew Gardens Hills will be known as “Seasons” – thanks to a woman who was inspired by autumnal weather.

“I was taking a walk one day and the leaves were falling, and then it hit me,” explained photographer and dance instructor Danielle Jacobs, who was born in Australia but now lives in the Long Island town of Cedarhurst. “Seasons -- because there are four seasons, and food is something you need all year round, and we season our food to make it tastier.”

Jacobs was thinking up ideas in response to a Long Island entrepreneur’s Internet contest to find a name for his new market. Her other entries included “Mainstream,” but her intuition told her that “Seasons” was the winner. And so it proved to be.

“We got over 4,000 entries, and the name ‘Seasons’ really stuck out from the rest,” noted storeowner Mayer Gold. “It hit us just right in describing our concept for the new supermarket: freshness, variety, the right shopping option for all seasons. In my mind, the name was a home run in conveying the right image.”

Among the submissions from other entries were Mayer’s Kosher Emporium and Gourmain (gourmet store on Main Street), according to Gold.

For winning the contest, Jacobs and her family -- husband, Sam, a magician, and two children -- will get free groceries (up to $100 a week) for the next year. Jacobs’ reaction to was grateful but understated: “It’s nice to finally win something in your life.”

“In addition to the freshest seasonal items, the store will serve as a model for a new interactive store-customer relationship,” said Gold. “As with our store name, consumers will help influence nearly every decision we make for the store, and we encourage input and feedback at the store, at our website and via social media.”

The store’s website is www.seasonsNYC.com.