Organic quick lunch is now just a fond memory

If you were a Greeny’s Market regular, you might have learned from owner Jen diPretoro’s Facebook page Friday that you’ll have to find a lunch menu based on organic and locally-grown produce elsewhere.

Ms. diPretoro closed Greeny’s doors Friday for the final time after a long period of soul searching, she said. “The announcement may have seemed sudden but I’ve been considering it for a few months now,” she said in a phone interview.

“I’ll miss Greeny’s customers,” Ms. diPretoro said. “They were really lovely, loyal people. I’ll miss the little chats and the impromptu philosophical arguments that would break out among them,” she said. She described Greeny’s as “very much a little community” and said she will miss getting the everyday updates on what’s going on in her customers’ lives.

“We want to thank all of our customers for their support and good will, jokes and strange orders,” Ms. diPretoro said on Facebook.

Customers who have gift certificates can use them at the Sag Harbor Farmers Market, which is held in the winter at Bay Burger on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Greeny’s will have a table there featuring organic and locally grown produce and other products.

Ms. diPretero took over the store from its founder Kim Sherman, for whom she had worked for about a year, in 2010. The economy has not improved since then, at least not for Greeny’s.

“If the economy is picking up a bit, I certainly haven’t seen any signs of it at the store,” she said. “In fact, the numbers were worse this year than at the same time last year and that was pretty grim,” Ms. diPretoro said.

She held on, hoping that traffic would increase, but ultimately decided it wasn’t going to happen.

“Selling a business in the best of times is difficult,” Ms. diPretoro said. “Selling a business that is not profiting is nearly impossible,” she said about her decision to simply shut down the store.

Maria Schultheis, who worked with Ms. diPretoro, couldn’t be reached but her former employer said she had found another job.

“Nutrition and wellness were always interests of mine and it was exciting that you didn’t have to leave the Island anymore to pick up healthy groceries,” she said.