Editor’s note: We’ve profiled Murray’s Cheese in 2021, but we felt it was time to revisit Murray’s and learn what one of the leading American cheese retailers is up to. We’re happy to share that they are creating even more terrific experiences for cheese lovers, both in their store, counters and online.
Murray’s Cheese Bleecker Store
Every New Yorker’s favorite cheese shop, Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street in the West Village, recently revealed an expansion and renovation to the original store and released a brand-new website. Now, the corner where Murray’s Mac & Cheese pop-up lived is officially connected and part of the shop, with a permanent menu of mac & cheeses and grilled cheeses. There was also a design overhaul, with a new logo and branding, and the larger store is newly organized, with products more spread out and the long cheese counter easier to access.
Partnerships & Collaborations
The legacy brand has evolved a lot in recent years. They have a partnership with supermarket chain Kroger to have cheese counters inside their markets—in the summer of 2022, they opened their 1,000th location within a Kroger; they do limited collaborations with NYC brands like Carnegie Deli and Tipsy Scoop, who made ice creams that incorporated cheese and wine into three ice creams: Brie & Bubbles, Chardonnay & Goat Cheese, and Blue Cheese & Port; they partner with respected cheesemakers to make limited edition cheeses, like the newly released Double Doe, made with Farm at Doe Run and aged in Murray’s caves; they’ve expanded their virtual and in-person cheese pairing and cheesemaking classes.
Elizabeth Chubbuck
Still, Elizabeth Chubbuck, the Chief Strategy Officer at Murray’s Cheese, stresses that Murray’s is still a community cheesemonger. “We have grown and expanded beyond our wildest dreams of how far we may reach in terms of bringing cheese to our customers, she says. “In parallel, we’ve also really sunk our roots deeply into who we are and where we started from, which is what comes to life with the new branding and website. Murray’s has always strived to stay true to our neighborhood roots. The fact that we are reaching this level of expansion within Kroger at the same time that we’re clarifying who we are as a brand in ways that are linked back to those roots is a testament to how fiercely we have held onto our own identity even as we have grown with one of the nation’s largest traditional supermarket chains.”
Murray’s Cheese Website Homepage
New Website
Non-New York and Kroger customers will have a grand time exploring the new website, which launched this summer. It aims to being the cheesemonger-customer exchange they’re known for to a new digital experience. The website offers a deep dive into learning about cheese and specialty foods with sections on everything from cheese vocabulary to how to cut cheese properly to an extensive Meet the Makers section introducing the many cheese producers whose products they carry. Plus, there are recipes, cheeseboard how-tos, pairing guides and ideas, and a new cheese journal.
Murray’s Web page cheese quiz
“Launching this website is a huge milestone for the brand and a tool that is going to define the next few years of Murray’s on a national scale,” says Chubbuck. “The website is our vehicle to reach our customers as far and wide as they possibly could be.” She expands: “We know that not every customer has an appetite for all of the information on every cheese, but some of them certainly do. And so we’ve designed the website to be this ‘choose your own adventure experience,’ where our customers can find information about cheeses that will quickly and easily help them make decisions about what to purchase, while at the same time, creating this rich environment of information that honors the passionate and expert artisans who craft the delicious cheeses and foods we sell.”
On the Horizon
What’s next for the famous cheese store? Time will tell, but there’s at least one new collaboration we’re excited for: a new cheese being washed in Makgeolli, a slightly effervescent Korean rice wine, which is currently being aged in Murray’s caves right now, and due to be released this fall. “The caves team has been working to incorporate diverse ingredients into our creative development,” says Chubbuck. “[They are] stepping beyond the traditional European and North American list of familiar flavors and ingredients.” We can’t wait.
Editor’s note: Read more about makgeolli.