By: Elyse Danielson
The Scheman & Grant Hardware store on Eight Avenue and West 38th Street in New York City has been hit with a fine after hiking up the prices of hand sanitizer and face masks, due to the coronavirus. The store had been selling Purell hand sanitizer for nearly $80 a bottle, as well as a pack of ten 3M respirator masks for $60. Scheman & Grant Hardware was also offering jumbo-sized, 2-liter bottles of Purell for $109, but sold out on Friday.
For reference, Home Depot reportedly sells the same pack of ten masks for only $22.97, according to their website.
Investigators from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection visited the store a day after The Post revealed the store’s astronomical prices in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
Despite the threat of the fine, which can go up to $500, the store is not budging from their astronomical-price points. Store owner Andrew Schemen told The Post in an email that he intends to fight the fine — in court, if necessary.
“My business is 100 years old; I have never been accused of anything like this,” he wrote, insisting that his prices are fair.
“My margin percentages are the same as they were before anyone had ever heard of coronavirus, so I have not changed my business model, and thus have not price-gouged” as defined by city statute, he wrote.
“We’re gouging according to them,” the defiant general manager said.
Despite being a part of the Ace Hardware franchise, the store is selling 1200-milliliter bottles of Purell for $79.99; Ace Hardware is selling the same product for $9.99, although it’s currently sold out.
“We have ZERO tolerance for anyone taking advantage of an epidemic to gouge prices,” Mayor de Blasio commented Saturday night. “Violations have already been issued to businesses and there will be consequences if this continues.”
The store’s outrageous pricing even caught the eye of Gov. Cuomo in Albany.
He warned that the State Police will be investigating price gouging reports and yanking licenses when warranted. “You will be caught,” he said.
Cuomo told reporters Saturday that he had directed state and local police departments to investigate unfair price hikes and established a toll-free hotline at 1-800-697-1220 where shoppers can report suspect price gouging.
“I want businesses to be aware that you could lose your license for price gouging. This is serious. It’s not just price gouging, it’s price gouging in an emergency situation where you are being exploitive of the public,” Cuomo said at a press conference.