TOUR: Key Food Supermarkets - Maspeth, NY

We're heading west from Middle Village (see here and here) to the neighborhood of Maspeth, which also has two supermarkets and also has one chain store and one single-location store. Once again, the same owners own the big name store (Key Food) as do the independent (Maspeth Marketplace).

Danny Doleh owned a Key Food up the street about a block at 66-17 Grand Ave, when in 2017 the Duane Reade pharmacy at 66-56 Grand closed. Doleh took over that location, moving Key Food down the street to the larger and more modern facility. But he also held onto the older location, converting it to the Maspeth Marketplace (but remaining within the Key Food cooperative). We'll see Maspeth Marketplace next.

I have a hunch that the building was built as a supermarket, though I haven't confirmed that. It was a pharmacy, so that means that when Doleh took over the lease, he also took over the pharmacy license. An independent pharmacy has set up shop inside the Key Food.

You enter to a spacious produce department, with checkouts and pharmacy on the front wall. The store is actually twice as deep as it looks here; the wall we're seeing leads to the deli-seafood backroom. Those departments line the first aisle, with meats in the back and frozen/dairy at the far end of the store.

Personally I like stores with higher ceilings, but the owners have certainly made the most of what they have here. The store looks great and has a very nice selection!

The storefront has lots of big windows, which let in a lot of light.

A small seafood counter faces produce, with sushi, deli, and bakery on the side facing the grocery aisles. The store is divided by a center aisle.

The flooring is beautiful!

Between the 3D metal lettering and grates, and the textures and line art on the walls, the decor is excellent but very low-key. I love it.

Bakery in the back corner.

Meats on the back wall, with more understated decor and beautiful flooring.

Now for a look at the grocery aisles...

There's nothing in this store that makes it feel like a converted drugstore. It's all brand-new.

The second-to-last aisle in the back has frozen foods, with dairy, cold cuts, and frozen meats in the last aisle.

Bulk coffee beans on the front end, along with customer service and pharmacy (which had not yet opened when I visited).

More great flooring on the front end.

Up next is the former Key Food, now Maspeth Marketplace, just up the street!

Key Food Supermarkets

66-56 Grand Ave, Maspeth, NY

Photographed July 2018