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

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By Zachary
Fine Fare Gold
Opened: Spring 2025
Owner: unknown
Previous Tenants: Safeway > assorted non-grocery tenants > Metro Acres Market
Cooperative: Retail Grocers Group
Location: 4188 Broadway, Manhattan, NY
Photographed: April 7, 2025
After opening last October, the small Metro Acres Market just across from the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights has rebranded. I don't know if it's been sold or just changed its name, but it's now a Fine Fare Gold supermarket. Fine Fare Gold is apparently the branding they're using for higher-end stores, and this is the only one currently but another is in progress in Inwood, about 15 blocks north.
The store looks basically the same inside, and I couldn't detect any significant difference in product selection. Both Metro Acres and Fine Fare are part of the same cooperative and supplied by the same warehouse -- General Trading -- so I don't really know the reason for the change. Even stranger is that there's actually already a Fine Fare across Broadway. That one's a "Fine Fare Fresh," and I truly don't think there's anything different between the various kinds of Fine Fares. The thing is, the stores are independently owned and operated, which means they look wildly different, sell completely different types of products, and have completely different ranges of services and selections. I get the sense that there's not much oversight from the corporate office, leaving the owners to run the stores however they like. That's of course a double-edged sword.
A reset was ongoing in the grocery aisles, but again, I couldn't spot any obvious differences in product mix or pricing or anything like that since the switch. The reviews on Google Maps for Metro Acres so far were really not good, and quite a few mentioned high prices. It's possible they're just looking to change the brand to attract attention and get the chance to make another impression on customers. It's also possible the store has been sold.
One interesting change: notice that the doors have actually been removed from the cold cuts and milk cases. It also looks like they've dropped the Boar's Head program here, opting instead for more standard packaged cold cuts. There's still no deli here, but it's also a very small store.
Dairy cases in the last aisle still have their doors, though.
The only other change is that the registers have been moved against the front wall, so that they're all in a row instead of in the more traditional setup. I don't know why that change was made.
This is still a nice little store, and there's a lot here although it did seem on the expensive side. But I have to say that I left from my most recent visit more confused than anything else. Why change the name? Why remove the doors on the cases? Why move the registers? Why have two Fine Fares directly across the street from each other? But, of course, I'm sure all those decisions were made for a reason. For now, I'll just have to keep wondering. But check out this weekend's other posts here!
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