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TOUR: Cherry Valley Marketplace - Williamsbridge

Jumping from Worcester, MA, to the Bronx, NYC is quite a geographic distance. How much of a running start would you need to jump 160 miles? Plus, there's the pesky matter of where you're going to land. If you're jumping to the Bronx, chances are you'll either end up on someone's roof or in the middle of a busy street. But I digress.
We're here in Williamsbridge, in the northeastern Bronx, to visit a brand-new, newly-built Cherry Valley Marketplace which was originally slated to be a Fine Fare. (There is already a Fine Fare at 320 E Gun Hill Rd, just west of this location.) This is one of the few newly-built supermarkets in the Bronx, some other recent examples being the Food Bazaar on 163rd St and the Fine Fare on 149th St, both in 2016. While the South Bronx is arguably gentrifying, Williamsbridge, a lower-key mostly residential neighborhood now a center for West Indian and Caribbean immigrants, is definitely not. But it still has a brand-new Cherry Valley Marketplace, that looks like this.
Produce is actually kind of the second aisle, with deli and prepared foods just to the right. Much of that section had not been fully opened yet at the time of my visit in August 2018, but its promises were quite impressive.
This shot, taken from the exit, shows the deli/bakery/prepared foods departments in the first section. They have a lot to offer and the selections are impressive.
The only thing preventing me from buying lots and lots of cookies here was the fact that it was still early morning. Oh well. The bakery had begun to be set up but was not yet completed.
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful delis I've ever seen. These fixtures are all super-upscale, unusual in a store like Cherry Valley.
And you are in the Bronx, so there's no excuse for bad bread. Luckily, that's an issue Cherry Valley doesn't have to deal with.
Heading back over to produce. The hot food/salad bar, grill, and gelato/coffee bar were not yet set up at the time of my visit. Sushi is now up and running.
Cherry Valley quite obviously did not spare any expense on this decor. It doesn't look cheesy, though, since it's very tastefully done.
The focus at this Cherry Valley is clearly the grand aisle, although the grocery selection is pretty extensive as well.
A brief look at dairy along the back wall. The flooring matches perfectly and is not overwhelming, although it adds visual interest.
More beautiful cases for the butcher shop, although the plastic bins do dull the effect a little. Meat and seafood are in the last aisle. Frozen foods take up some space along the front wall, since the store is not very deep but very wide.
The front wall is to the left here.
Overflow bakery items are over on this end of the store with frozen foods. Not sure exactly why, other than the obvious explanation that there's not enough room over by the bakery.
Customer service is located between frozen foods and the checkouts along the front wall.
A look along the front-end before heading out. There is a seating area along the front wall of the store, which is nice with the huge windows that face Gun Hill Rd. I was absolutely blown away by this Cherry Valley Marketplace, but I do also hope that it's not too expensive (Cherry Valley stores tend to be affordable options, but I'm not sure about this one). Nevertheless, it's a must-see!

Cherry Valley Marketplace

801 E Gun Hill Rd, Bronx, NY
Open 24 Hours Daily
http://www.cherryvalleymarketplace.com
(347) 899-8500
My Rating: 

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Sure is! Do you have any independent (or small chain; there are maybe 15 Cherry Valleys) supermarkets like this in your area that aren't exactly upscale stores but are extremely impressive?

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    2. Short answer... no :P Of course, now that you've asked I'm struggling to think of *any* supermarket (just like how the question "Where do you want to eat?" causes you to blank out on every single restaurant in existence XD ), but the only non-chain stores that I know of in the Memphis metro are Cash Saver (which even then is a loosely national chain, I believe) and Superlo Foods, which isn't overly impressive (my local Superlo kept the décor of the building's previous operator). That said... there is a very nice-looking store that I remember coming across in my research. I don't remember the name right now, but I'm pretty sure it's in New Albany, MS.

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    3. I know the feeling -- like someone asks you what song they should put on and you can't think of any music at all! I'm pretty sure this prevalence of independent and small chain stores is mostly a NY-NJ thing.

      Just a brief search on Google Maps led me to Reed's Market at 300 W Bankhead St, New Albany, MS. It's a former Save-A-Lot that looks really nice and very modern, although not quite as deluxe as this store. Not a whole lot else though!

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    4. Reed's Market - that's it! Thanks for looking that up for me. I'd been wondering what it was previously.

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    5. That's a nice renovation for an old Save-A-Lot!

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    6. For sure! There's an old Save-A-Lot in Horn Lake that rebranded a year or two ago, and I thought about checking it out. But given that all the Save-A-Lot signs besides the logo itself remain on the exterior, I don't expect much change to have occurred inside :P

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    7. Funny, Save-A-Lot hasn't really been in my area long enough to have closed stores. They're a relative newcomer in New Jersey. They recently opened two northern NJ stores, in Orange and Hillside. I haven't been to either, although I've driven by Orange and they have a completely new interior and exterior look (https://patch.com/new-jersey/westorange/save-lot-opens-first-grocery-store-orange-nj). Never been a huge fan of Save-A-Lot.

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    8. I haven't ever cared much for Save-A-Lot either, but I do appreciate how they operate in some areas locally without any other grocery stores. (Perhaps that's why the Horn Lake location closed - too much competition! I know in Clarksdale, MS, they're all that's left besides Walmart now that Kroger has closed. But I digress.) That's cool about the new design at that store! I hadn't seen the new logo, but the new interior part reminds me that I have seen some recent developments on that front. A new location opened in the Binghampton neighborhood of Memphis, and has the same décor as this similarly remodeled store on B-More Retail's flickr stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/baltimore_retail/27893904789/in/photostream

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