Special Report: Fine Fare Supermarkets (future) - Washington Heights, Manhattan, NY

Fine Fare Supermarkets (future)
Opening: TBA

Owner: unknown

Previous Tenants: Rite Aid

Cooperative: Retail Grocers Group/General Trading

Location: 4188 Broadway, Washington Heights, Manhattan, NY

Photographed: July 12, 2024

This building was previously a Rite Aid, at Broadway and 178th right at the end of the George Washington Bridge. Now, a supermarket in a former drugstore -- that's not unusual at all, but we're actually seeing another supermarket in a former drugstore just eight blocks north today! That store is a former Rite Aid that is now a Shop Fair supermarket, and here at Broadway and 178th, a former Rite Aid is set to become a Fine Fare supermarket. This store is just a bit smaller than the Shop Fair, at between 6500 and 7000 square feet.

Across the city, as chain drugstores are closing, independent supermarkets are moving in. In addition to that Shop Fair, check out this H Mart, Pure Farmers Market, CTown, and too many others to count and list. And it's not entirely a new phenomenon, although it has accelerated with the recent closures of lots of Rite Aids and CVSes and Walgreenses (I think I definitely nailed those plurals).

This store is really close to completion, too -- we can see by taking a peek in through the front windows that nearly all the fixtures are in, and the flooring and lighting seems to be completed. How do we know it's going to be a Fine Fare?

Another through-the-windows shot, this one of one of the new registers going in, which are labeled Fine Fare. This was the only indication of the store's future brand, so it's possible it won't actually be a Fine Fare. Some permits were posted in the front windows...

The Fine Fare branding is a bit of an interesting choice to me, as this store is at Broadway and 178th (4188 Broadway is the address). There is another Fine Fare exactly one block north, in the George Washington Bridge Market, a mall built into the base of the bridge, which accompanies a bus terminal and some parking. That store is at Broadway and 179th (4211 Broadway is the address there), and it's not clear whether that store is under the same ownership as this one. It just seems unusual to have the two stores so close together under the same brand, regardless of whether they're under the same ownership. The other one is quite nice and a bit larger than this one will be.

There is another Fine Fare on Broadway at Dyckman Street in Inwood, although that's about 20 blocks north so a bit of a distance. There also was one at St Nicholas and 191st, although that appears to have closed. There's a lot of new New York City supermarkets lately, so check out our other visits today here!