Foodtown of Brooklyn Heights
Opened: June 7, 2024
Drugstore-to-supermarket conversions are the theme of the day, apparently, so let's add to the list. A Rite Aid from 2014 to 2021 or 2022, 101 Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights is now the latest Foodtown in New York City. Opened on June 7, the store takes about 7500 square feet of retail.
In that linked article, owner Nasri Mujalli -- who owns, along with his family, several other supermarkets in the city -- says that his Foodtown is the first new grocer in 15 years to open in Brooklyn Heights. A cursory fact-check suggests that's true -- but that's not to say there isn't a lot of competition. Within five blocks, there are two Key Foods, a Trader Joe's, an independent called Fresh Start, a natural food store called Perelandra, and the legendary Sahadi's. Still, this Foodtown stands to be a potent addition to the neighborhood, packing a lot of selection into its small space that has been beautifully renovated.
You enter to a very nice cheese island, behind which the produce department extends down the first aisle. Packaged meats and a small deli are on the back wall, with dairy in the first aisle and frozen and beer in the last aisle.
There's definitely less packed into this space than there is in the new Hudson Heights Shop Fair, which is around the same size (and also a former Rite Aid). That's not (entirely) a bad thing -- this store feels a bit more spacious than the cramped but impressively complete Shop Fair.
Looking up towards the front of the first aisle. You can see that produce is on one side with dairy on the other. Notice the windows behind the produce cases, which now let in just a tiny bit of natural light. But the lighting inside this supermarket is particularly nice regardless.
Here's a look across the back wall of the store.
If I remember correctly, a little bit more dairy continues down part of the first aisle.
Notice the understated color palate, which I think works really well in this space. I like the black ceiling and dark walls.
A small deli in the back left corner.
These fixtures all look brand-new. To me, the dark colors and the focused track lighting make the store feel more like a boutique experience than a mainstream supermarket, which is probably their intention. The competition I mentioned earlier skews higher-end in affluent Brooklyn Heights, and a store like Fresh Start nearby itself has an impressive, gourmet market-style interior. (That store was previously part of the Garden of Eden/Eden Gourmet chain of stores, which previously included locations in Manhattan, New Jersey, and Brooklyn. Today there is one Garden of Eden and one Eden Gourmet in Manhattan.)
Beer in a small dead-end hallway off the last aisle, possibly which doubles as an entrance to the backroom space, it seems.
These freezer cases are different from what I'm used to seeing, and part of it I think is that there's more glass -- the borders aren't quite so pronounced as what I'm familiar with, and the handles are slimmer and less-noticeable. And for a look at the front-end...
Opened: June 7, 2024
Owner: Nasri & Joe Mujalli
Previous Tenants: Rite Aid
Cooperative: Allegiance Retail Services
Location: 101 Clinton St, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, NY
Photographed: July 11, 2024
That wraps up our final special report of the day. I hope you had fun reading them all, I definitely had fun writing them (and, of course, visiting all the new stores)! See the full list here, and come back tomorrow for southeastern Worcester County!
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