TOUR: DeCicco & Sons - Armonk, NY

DeCicco & Sons

Owner: Chris, John, & Joe DeCicco

Opened: 2013

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: Krasdale Foods
Location: 17 Maple Ave, Armonk, NY

Photographed: January 14, 2023

Welcome to Armonk, NY, home of a roughly 10-year-old DeCicco & Sons gourmet supermarket! The chain of high-end stores got its start when the DeCicco family opened CTown stores in the Bronx, and ultimately moved out to the suburbs to the north of the city. While the stores are no longer CTown, they are still supplied at least in part by Krasdale Foods. But they are very high-end supermarkets, and these days, there are 10 of them. We've previously seen their stores in Brewster, Ardsley, and Larchmont.

The new-build store opened in 2013, and the 24,000 square foot store fits in nicely with the quaint, very upscale downtown area it's in. Westchester County is known for its suburbs, many of which are affluent commuter towns for people who work in New York City, much like a lot of northeastern New Jersey.

We're about seven miles northeast of White Plains, NY here and ten miles northwest of Stamford, CT. Let's head into the store and check it out...

We enter to a beautiful produce department on the left side of the store, with seafood and meat behind it. Dairy lines the back wall, with frozen foods in the second-to-last aisle. The cheese, deli, bakery, and prepared foods departments line the right side of the store. On the second floor, there's a cafe, a bar, and a beer and wine store -- and bocce boards.

The decor here is stunning, and the store is simply gorgeous. Although it's not that large, it has an impressive selection of most things. There are, of course, very few choices for nonfoods and HABA, but the basics are here.

A gorgeous seafood counter separates the produce department from the first aisle, which is home to the meat department and a service butcher, in the back half of the store.

We can see that this store is perimeter-heavy, and focused on the high-end items. Around four miles west in Thornwood and Pleasantville are a Key Food, a ShopRite, and an ACME.

The decor is impressive and very extensive, but not overwhelming. The straightforward color scheme and excellent execution makes it very appealing. This store was designed by Off the Wall, one of my favorite design firms.

We can tell where the second floor is based on where the ceiling is lower, but even so it doesn't feel overly cramped.

Here's a look at frozen foods at the end of the store. These cases look like they could be older than 2013, so they might have come in secondhand from somewhere else.

In the last aisle, the dairy department opens up to a massive cheese island. The deli and prepared foods departments extend beyond that in the front.

The one disappointing thing is that this store's pizza counter is gone and filled with other things (seen below to the left), although the sign is still there. The prepared foods selection is still enormous even without that.

The service counters line the outside wall, with self-service hot and cold bars in the middle and cold beverages opposite.

The bakery department has a separate counter for fresh bread and then a large selection of cakes, pies, and pastries, just like a real Italian bakery.

Now let's head upstairs! The cafe is, of course, high-end and inviting, and very peaceful set above the main supermarket.

We can then walk down the walkway to the next section, which is the bar.

...and beyond that is the wine and beer area. There is a staircase that goes directly from the prepared foods area to this part, and another at the front of the store.

Heading back towards the cafe seating area, here's a look at the bar. Wow!

And, as promised, the bocce boards. Bocce is popular with many of the Italian-American senior citizens in the New York area, and I'm sure they take advantage of this unique feature.

Is the food any good? Yes, of course it is! I had a delicious Italian sub on sesame bread from the bakery department. I'm not sure if this captures its size -- I could barely get my jaw around it to bite into it.

And saving the best for last, let's take a look across the store from the second floor! Here we can get a sense of the beautiful, colorful produce department and where seafood/meat are at the back of the first aisle.

And on the other side of the store, a look at the massive cheese island from above...

Don't forget the deli and bakery departments!

And looking towards the front-end, which is out of frame to the right below. I realized I didn't have any front-end pictures only when I started to write this post. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's because I was holding a giant Italian sub and I was in a bit of a trance under its influence as I made my way to the register.

That's all for this store! If you like DeCicco & Sons, be sure to check out the other locations I linked above. But we also have another one of their stores coming soon! There are two branches of the DeCicco family, which I believe I've mentioned before, and while one owns the DeCicco & Sons supermarkets, the other side owns DeCicco Family Markets. They have a store about nine miles north of here that we'll be touring tomorrow on The Independent Edition!