Special Report: Shop Fresh Food Marketplace - Concourse Village, Bronx, NY

Shop Fresh Food Marketplace

Opened: June 2024

Owner: Jose Grullon

Previous Tenants: Bee & Bee Department Store

Cooperative: Associated Supermarket Group

Location: 1000 Morris Ave, Concourse Village, Bronx, NY

Photographed: July 12, 2024

Welcome to the latest new store by the Antillana SuperFood chain! We saw their impressive (and largest) store in Morris Heights a few months ago, and since then, they've rebranded some of their stores to "Shop Fresh Food Marketplace by Antillana SuperFood Marketplace". Aside from the fact that that is quite literally the worst supermarket name I've ever heard (and a rebrand that, in and of itself, confuses me -- what was wrong with just the Antillana name?), the stores continue to be well-run, and this latest opening brings an excellent, full-service supermarket to this quiet part of the central Bronx.

We're just a couple blocks north of the Bronx courthouses (and the massive Food Bazaar across the street), but this area is fairly low-key and residential. Once a movie theater, 1000 Morris Avenue later became a supermarket and a bowling alley, then was eventually subdivided into multiple smaller storefronts. Bee & Bee Department Store, a local dollar/department store, was here by 2011 but closed a few years ago. The 13,000 square foot space underwent extensive renovation to become the third Shop Fresh Food Marketplace, with the other two also in the Bronx -- one in what used to be a Bravo on Grand Concourse that was briefly an Antillana, the other recently converted from a longer-time Antillana in Fordham Heights.

You enter roughly in the middle of the storefront, bringing you to the dry produce inside -- like the other Antillana locations, a lot is also displayed outside on the sidewalk -- with the registers to your right. To your left, the foyer bringing people to the higher floors of the building takes up a bit of space. On the far right side, dairy lines the first aisle's right side, with frozen foods on one side of the second aisle. Packaged seafood (there's no service seafood counter here) and a very large butcher shop line the back wall. In the last aisle on the left side, packaged meats and refrigerated produce line the outside wall of the store, with deli and baked goods in the front-left corner.

This store, to me at least, felt much larger than its 13,000 square feet. That's partially because of its extensive selection, but also because of its clean, straightforward layout. There's no funny business with aisles going in different directions or any odd corners; plus, it helps that the store is very deep but not that wide, so the aisles are long.

It's a really, really nice store, too, with clearly significant thought put into the decor and the setup. Notice that the decor isn't hidden behind the extra paper goods stacked atop the refrigerators here; instead, it's hung in front of the stock.

A look across the back wall of the store, with frozen meat and seafood on the right side and the substantial butcher on the left side.

I do particularly like this flooring, too. I think this is decidedly in the "new school" of New York City supermarkets, if stores like this are in the old school. And it's remarkably good execution by the Associated Supermarket Group, the Long Island-based cooperative that represents this store and most of the other Antillana stores. (ASG has also recently opened two particularly nice Met Fresh stores in Ridgewood, Queens and Kensington, Brooklyn; I hope to get to those soon.)

The grocery aisles are well-stocked and extremely sleek; part of the reason the store feels larger than it is is these long, clean aisles with great sightlines.

Several of the stores we're seeing today take their butcher counters seriously, and this one is no different. To the predominantly Latin American and Caribbean customers who make up this store's primary customer base, meat is very important -- and this store certainly reflects that, with lots of selection and a service-heavy department (compared to, say, the Stop & Shop we're also seeing today, which doesn't even have a butcher window or counter).

And packaged meats take up about half of the last aisle, with produce in the front part.

Additional dry, non-refrigerated produce is displayed on tables opposite this on the other side of the front-end.

And in the front corner, against the front wall, is the small deli and bakery area. There is, of course, no in-store bakery, but there's a fair amount of baked goods to choose from and more in refrigerator cases around the corner.

If we turn around from the above picture and look down the last aisle, we can see produce and meat in the other direction...

Seven aisles is nothing to sneeze at -- and that's what makes New York City different. Almost anywhere else, 13,000 square feet would barely be big enough for a Walgreens.

The beer case is temporarily stocked with baked goods and single-serve juices -- something we typically see in many stores' first few weeks in business, while they work on getting their liquor license from the city. And a look at the front-end before we head out...

This is a great little store, and I'm sure the seriously old-school CTown two blocks west has taken note of this store's opening. Check out the other stores of the day here!