Essentials Plus

CLOSED
What more can I say?

This place used to be great but now half the store is empty and out of stock all the time. So disappointing and unreliable! I only go here if I’m desperate for a snack and it’s on my walking path.

This used to be a pretty reliable ‘essentials’ shop — especially useful as it stays open so late. For the last couple of months, the shelves have been absolutely bare and looks as if they are closing (even though they deny this).
Have no idea how they manage to stay in business if there’s nothing to sell.

Horrible customer service. I returned a broken mini fan. The cashier tried to get the fan to work, then called over the manager. Now, I’ve worked with customers. Wouldn’t you think the first thing the manager would do was ask how he could help, and apologize? Not this guy. He was as nasty as could be. He said, when did you buy this? I showed him the receipt that I only bought it five days ago. He points to the sign that says store credit only. Really, I can’t describe how nasty this man was, I felt he was treating me as if I were stealing from him, as if it were my fault that the thing was broken. I was as nice as can be. I don’t expect to be treated like royalty at a convenience store, but I sure won’t accept this kind of aggressive mean behavior, there is simply no excuse.
Obviously this is not a major catastrophe, but a neighborhood store treating a customer this way doesn’t deserve my business. My few purchases won’t make or break this guy, but I’ll sure feel better about giving my business to someone who wants it.

Horrible experience ever!!! Please do not shop here!!! I have been shopping here for 4 years and recently lost a receipt for a $ 8 item and was totally surprised when the manager said, how do I know that you didn’t just put this item in your bag??? Omg, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Completely absurd, horrible manager. Stay away!!!

I came in here, and found the employees arguing with a customer. They accused him of attempting to return a $ 9 bottle of Woolite with nothing but water inside. They even had opened up a fresh bottle for comparison. I’m just going to assume that this absurd accusation was wrong, and do the poor customer a solid by representing him in this review.

I’ve been happy to buy all my toilet paper, tooth paste, soap, milk and miscellaneous essentials here for about 20 years… but I’m afraid the party is over. There’s a nasty new manager, the place looks a mess, and the
staff — who always used to be pleasant and helpful — can’t be bothered to point out where everything’s been moved to. Too bad. I’d rather not have to go to Duane Reade! Luckily, Price Wise is just up the street.

Reasonably priced, well stocked, open late.
A good choice especially when other stores are closed.

A modern day variety store for the Upper West Side. I can’t say that I shop here a lot, but when I do I often find pretty good deals on the most random stuff (like English Muffins — $ 1.99 for 12!, Windex, and Q-​Tips).
You kind of have to know what to shop for, because not everything is a great deal, but it’s definitely a good place to pick up everyday household products if you happen to be in the area.

Essentials has everything you need — period. I’ll search all over the city for something, and find it at our corner store. There are tons of toys, art & crafts stuff, and party stuff upstairs. The baby section saved us for the first year of our son’s life. Bottles, sippy cups, food, formula, diapers. It’s all there. Just be careful of the milk/​refrigerated foods in the summer as they aren’t so careful to maintain the temps between the truck, storage, and then retail space.

I go here solely for the upstairs play space dedicated to Thomas the Tank. It has served a useful purpose with my ankle biter, when we wanted an activity other than the playground. Great on a rainy/​snowy day it is one of those best kept secrets for parents with kids.
I have wandered through the food aisles and happy to report that at the LEAST, they have Annies Homegrown but other than that — the food is nicht gute.
PS — Have that reusable bag on hand!

Essentials Plus is a crazy storm of random awesomeness. Where else can one pick up a gallon of milk, a blow up pool, get my eyebrows threaded, and get an fruity ice? Um, no where.
They always have postings on the door of all their sales — the big blown up ads pasted right on the door.

Any day now, their accountant will alert them that they have their price guns stuck on «average, normal, middle America, affordable,» instead of «Stick it in and break it off. You live in Manhattan.»

I have no idea what the hell this place is, but I LIKE it!!!
Seriously, in one trip I bought a 2-​liter of diet pepsi, a giant stuffed empereor penguin for my nephew, an extension cord, mac&cheese, and a frisbee for the park. It’s a little bit of everything under the sun mashed into a 2-​story shop on the UWS, yet somehow it works. There’s also an attached hair supplies store… c’est bizarre. Anyway, sometimes I’ll just be walking by on the way home and I’ll pop in for 5 minutes just to see what I’ll find.

Good aunts and uncles, this is your place for Thomas the tank and other toys.
You would never think it but upstairs of a decent drug store is a very good toy store that is never crowded.
I don’t have kids, but I have nephews and I always go here for their toys. Since I don’t have kids, I have no idea if these toys are cheap or expensive, but I do know the selection is good, the store is always empty and the aisles are wide and stuff is actually on the shelves where it’s supposed to be (craziness!)
Downstairs is weird, there is a drug store and then a hair stuff store next door. I haven’t figured it out so I can’t review it at this time.

I can’t speak for the adjoining beauty salon but this convenience store comes in mighty handy for an area with no great supermarket choices. They have a better selection of OTC drugs and kitchen supplies than food/​beverages but it does the trick for a box of cereal, a snack, or a bottle/​carton of juice, milk, or soda.
During the warm months, they serve Uncle Louis G’s Italian Ices via a sidewalk window. They have about 30 flavors to select from and the prices are cheap ($ 1.50 for a regular — though it is pretty small especially compared to the Delicioso Coco Helado cart). The ices are nothing to write home about but are good for days when you want a quick fix and don’t want to drop $ 5 at Yolato or Emack & Bolio’s. The Mango Ice has bits of mango in it. Kind of liked that…
Second floor is a toy store for small children — big with the UWS stroller set. They also have a bunch of discount cards up there for when you want to give the ones you love the very best… value. Oh, and a $.99 ATM…
Sometimes ‘jack of all trades’ isn’t such a bad thing… this place is one of those examples.

As someone who is slightly obsessed with my eyebrows (one is perfect and the other one is just a big mess) I really, really wanted to love this place. Perhaps finally my dreams of matching eyebrows would come true. Well they did… kind of. On the positive side, my crazy brow now looks a little better and matches the other one more. But on the very, very negative my perfect brow is no longer so. I now need to be pretty heavy on the brow color to fill in the shape. I sincerely wish I had not gone here.

Word to the wise: Their price on eyebrow threading has gone up (now $ 10, plus tax)
One thing I appreciated about this place was its prompt service. I went in without calling ahead and the woman immediately sat me in a chair and got to work. In and out in less than 10 minutes — nice.
I also appreciated the woman’s meticulousness. Oftentimes after I get my eyebrows waxed there are still a few stray stubbles left over that I have to tweeze myself. Not at this place! Once she had finished there was nary a stray hair to be found — a very clean job.
Unfortunately I was not completely pleased with her shaping work. I prefer a more «natural» brow shape, and in my opinion she thinned my brows out a bit too much. If you are going into this place I would recommend being very vocal about what kind of shape you want.
I may or may not go back to this place.
*Update:*
I’ve been back a number of times now and have come to really like the threading services. I think that first time may have just been a bit of a fluke. They do a much better job here than I have found at other places uptown, and though I’m a cheapskate and still wish it were a little cheaper, on the whole I’m satisfied.

Five stars for the service.
It was relatively quick with perfect results, and reasonably priced considering these.
Two negatives were:
1. The rickety spiral staircase that you must ascend to get to the salon area. It threatens to fall in on itself at every step.
2. The indiscreet clerks downstairs who stare openly, perhaps to nit pick at the work of their [potential] rivals upstairs.
Despite these things it was worth the ten dollars, most definitely.

Perfect eyebrows, yes. Next to the threading joints in Little India, Jackson Heights, Queens, where I pay $ 3 – 6, this is the next best place to get your brows done in the city. Prices went up to $ 10, but it’s worth it.