The Market Report

This 6100 square foot supermarket opened ca. 2010 in what was probably a supermarket previously, but was vacant at the time. Like many major arteries through New York City's outer boroughs (and northern Manhattan), Liberty Ave has an elevated subway running above it. This store is located at 96-09 Liberty Ave, Ozone Park, NY. Photographed December 2018

Our next group of neighborhoods is just to the west of what we saw in southern Jamaica. We're heading into what might be considered central Ozone Park, then into Howard Beach, a relatively isolated mostly residential neighborhood of southwestern Queens, and finally right over the border into Brooklyn for East New York! Come back tomorrow for a Snapshot in Ozone Park.

I promise this is the last really bad blurry nighttime snapshot for a very long time! This former CTown was converted to Ideal Food Basket with extensive interior and exterior renovations in late 2017. It's actually many small buildings combined to an approximately 9300 square foot supermarket that now has a main entrance and exit in the back, facing the parking lot, instead of facing Foch Blvd in the front. It's located at 142-36 Foch Blvd, South Ozone Park, NY. Photographed December 2018

This Fine Fare Supermarket is one of the chain's earlier stores in operation, and it's pretty hard to tell what this store was before Fine Fare, though it was likely not built as a supermarket. It's 4500 square feet and from this pre-renovation street view we can see a little of the facade it would've originally had. It's one of the relatively few supermarkets in South Jamaica, though it is about seven blocks north of the Food World Supermarket we're going to see tomorrow on The Independent Edition! This Fine Fare is at 115-34 Sutphin Blvd, South Jamaica, NY. Photographed December 2018

As I warned you, some of these nighttime pictures through Jamaica South are not very good. This particular store is located at the corner of Merrick and Linden Boulevards in Saint Albans, southern Jamaica. There's actually a Centennial A&P hiding behind this facade, which may have become a Waldbaum's at some point. Eventually it became an Associated until about 2012, when the store was converted to Key Food. Around 2017, the location briefly switched to Food Kingdom Supermarkets (a Krasdale affiliate) before returning to the Key Food banner, all under the same owners, Joe and Amy Doleh. The store is located at 171-11 Linden Blvd, Saint Albans, NY. Photographed December 2018

Our next stop is here in southern Jamaica! Much of eastern Queens is referred to colloquially as Jamaica, so to be more clear, we'll be hitting stores in Cambria Heights, Saint Albans, South Jamaica, and South Ozone Park. These primarily residential neighborhoods tend to be lower-income and predominantly African American and Latino. We'll see six stores in this region before continuing west! Check back tomorrow on The Independent Edition for our first store!

Just 3/4 mile north of yesterday's Food Farm is this store. Opened in the 1950s as a Food Fair, the store later became the Village Plaza Compare & Save Supermarket, affiliated with Krasdale Foods' AIM (Association of Independent Merchants) group. I visited immediately after the store had been purchased by the owners of the CTowns in Hempstead and Uniondale, and was under renovation during its conversion to CTown. So, you'll excuse the in-progress appearance of the store. As you can see, the store really needed a refresh. Here's what it looks like now. Produce runs along the first aisle, which is the front wall of the store. Checkouts line the left side of the store, with entrances and exits at the front and back. Meats run along the right side, with dairy and frozen at the back. Deli is in the back left corner. Inside, the store is looking good but definitely in need of some help. Notice the missing letter in the department sign. Here's a l...

Moving just half a mile from yesterday's rather depressing Food Farm to today's gorgeous and inviting Key Food. Owned by Alex Guzman, this store joins another Key Food in Queens and a Shop Fair in Yonkers that he also owns. A longtime Key Food, it was purchased by Guzman in 2011. You enter about halfway across the storefront and turn left to a beautiful new deli-bakery-coffee shop in the front corner, with produce on the right side of the first aisle and meats on the left. Dairy runs along the back wall with seafood in the back corner. Frozen lines the last aisle. This corner was all-new in the 2016ish renovation. It's absolutely gorgeous. Bakery on the front wall with a coffee shop on the side facing a small cafe. Now continuing into the main store, we see an impressive meat and produce aisle with very modern and sleek decor. It's a very upscale positioning, right down to the price signs which contain descriptions of the produce items. The store i...

Immediately next door to T&F Pork Store is this CTown Supermarket, which until about 2016 or 2017 was an Associated. Interestingly enough, this store (under the awning) has a porcelain front, like many 1940s-era ACMEs did. I don't know whether this store was ever an ACME (though they did have stores on Long Island), but I rather doubt it. There is a parking lot in the back, with an entrance to the store. I don't entirely remember the layout here, but generally it consists of checkouts and customer service on the front wall. Frozen lines the front half of the first aisle, dairy in the back half, with meats on the back wall. Produce lines the back half of the last aisle, with deli at the front of the last aisle. A pretty solid selection for just 4300 square feet. We're going to tour the store kind of in reverse, starting in the back of the last aisle (produce). Somewhat patchwork floor, but it's plenty clean. The front half of the last aisle (there are...