The Market Report

First off, sorry for the late post. By the time I finally got around to writing this post, it was after midnight, so out of habit, I just clicked on the calendar to schedule for the next day at midnight instead of choosing publish now. Anyway, here you go! Today's snapshot is a corner bodega that's taken the next steps in promoting healthy food in lower income neighborhoods that need it most, partnering with Montefiore Health System's Healthy Store Initiative. The program is designed to bring fresh products and healthier choices into stores that serve as neighborhood convenience shopping stops, rather than big shopping destinations. The store is located at 101 E 196th St and is that uniquely New York City blend of tiny bodega with full grocery and meat selection. Definitely a tiny place! I do like the new facade with the fake wood design. It's a nice contrast to the green awning and the lettering really stands out. And tomorrow we jump right back in

Today's store tour is pretty quick but that's okay because it's a tiny store! Google Maps, in fact, puts a size estimate at just over 2,000 square feet. We're at the corner of Kingsbridge and University, which we saw in a Streetside Sights & Scenes post yesterday . Let's check out this small supermarket, which was previously a Super Foods Supermarket (an independent store whose affiliation I'm not sure of) and later a Compare Foods before switching over to Key Food's Food Universe banner in early 2017. Compare Foods had done a renovation when they took over from Super Foods, so there was very little to do except replace the sign and awning when the affiliation changed to Food Universe. Yep, it's small! But on the flip side, that means that almost the whole front wall is glass. Despite the small size, we do have full produce, meat, dairy, frozen, grocery, and even deli departments! You enter to a tiny produce section, with frozen, dairy

If you're wondering why this neighborhood is called Kingsbridge Heights , don't . This CTown is looking much better than Wednesday's store , both on the inside and the outside. But especially the outside. By the way, this CTown is located on Sedgwick Avenue, which is pronounced Sej-wick. Does it bother anyone else that it's not spelled Sedgewick? You enter on the left side of the storefront to deli immediately inside. Produce lines the first aisle with dairy in the back corner. Meats follow on the back wall and frozen in the last aisle. As is very common in these smaller urban stores, part of the first aisle is split into produce. The deli, which appears to be newly installed or newly renovated at least, is located immediately inside the entrance. The hot food bar, which was not yet open for the day when I visited, is just in front of the deli counter. Heading back over to produce, we see a nice display with a good variety in a small space. D

The day I spent photographing these stores in the Bronx, the neighborhoods are so dense that I did it all on foot. Most of these stores don't have parking lots, and good luck finding street parking. That made for some...challenges. There's only about about a net 120-ft elevation difference between the CTown on Broadway and the CTown on Sedgwick Ave, which we'll see tomorrow. But it becomes clear that this elevation change happens all at once. This staircase is located between Heath Ave and Kingsbridge Terr and, well, it made for some good exercise. So did the other staircase between Kingsbridge Terr and Sedgwick Ave. Come back tomorrow for the CTown!