I'm really excited about this tour! Up until recently, this 12,000 square foot store which is owned by Kent Tavera, was a fairly
average-looking Fine Fare. 2016 brought a conversion to Food Fair Fresh Market, whose
Newark location we've toured (and which also has a store on 163rd St in Mott Haven, Bronx). 163rd was the first location to get a major,
inside and
out renovation, with this store coming second and Newark in progress now. This store had been renovated fairly recently, so the interior renovation was less extensive here than 163rd. The exterior was totally remodeled, though, and the store has been converted to Key Food (Food Fair being a Key Food banner).
We can see new produce fixtures, lighting, and flooring, with older decor that has been refreshed and hung in front of the stacks of paper products (woohoo, you can actually read it!). At one point, this store's decor matched the NJ City Supermarkets in
Newark and
Irvington -- and Fairview, which has now opened and will be coming to the blog soon!
As you can tell, I caught this store near the end of its renovation. It's looking fantastic but was still not complete.
A beautiful new deli-bakery is located in an island at the back of the produce aisle. Previously the deli was in the front corner opposite the entrance. Bread and other baked goods are in an island to the left.
Cold cuts and beer line the first aisle, with the deli-bakery island to the left. As you can see, this area was still under construction (no floor just yet). The store has since been finished.
New service seafood on the back of the deli-bakery island. Meat lines the back wall, and we get back to the updated flooring...
Meats line the back wall (and check out those custom Key Food rugs!)
Aisle 2 is lined with bakery items (refrigerated cakes and stuff in the back section, fresh bread in the front).
The grocery shelving is relatively new too, although I don't think it's new for this renovation, I think it dates back to the last Fine Fare renovation.
I love the custom Key Food aisle markers!
A great-looking dairy and frozen aisle. Frozen continues into what once would have been the customer service counter, which has been moved to an island next to the entrance.
And it almost looks like the front-end has been condensed so that the registers are shorter than they used to be, with a wider walkway. Hard to tell for sure, though.
Props to the owners and team at this Key Food for a really nice renovation and investing in one of the lower-income neighborhoods of the Bronx. It will probably continue to be successful though, since it's right in the middle of the Castle Hill Houses public housing complex. At the eastern end of the Castle Hill Houses (a block east and a block south from this store) is another Key Food affiliate which we'll be touring tomorrow!
Key Food Supermarkets
656 Castle Hill Ave, Castle Hill, Bronx, NY
Photographed December 2019
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