Village Market
In the New York metro area, everything is smaller and more cramped. That's just the nature of this part of the country -- there's no extra space anywhere. And in terms of supermarkets, that typically means seeing small stores that do a lot more with a lot less space. That's certainly true here in downtown Floral Park, a small village on Long Island just outside the NYC city limits and about 15 miles east of midtown.
The 10,000 square foot Village Market is a longtime fixture here in Floral Park. A glance through some online records and archives shows that it's continuously been a supermarket since at least the 1960s, when it was a Key Food, though I'm sure it was a grocer before that, too. In the 1970s, it became an Associated Supermarket, officially becoming the Village Associated when the Nargentino family took it over in 1980. In 2015, the Nargentinos switched the store to CTown before selling it in 2025. The store is now co-owned by Jose Collado and his son-in-law, Mike Cawley. Thanks to the Floral Park Villager for lots of that information!
The Collados, by my count, own at least about eight supermarkets in New York City (though I'm not quite sure if all the Collados are related to each other, of course). The Floral Park Villager says that Cawley, the co-owner, is married to Jose Collado's daughter Melanie and that they live here in Floral Park.
And since they took over the Village Market (not Village Marketplace or Village Super Market or The Village Market or Village Market or Village Market, mind you), the new owners have embarked on a major renovation of the space. It's not complete, so let's check out the full before-and-after!
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These pictures were taken in April 2025 and January 2026, right around the time the new owners took over and then again once the renovation was finished. The store has one entrance on the front, facing the street, and another in the back facing the parking lot. Produce and floral, along with the meat department, are on the back wall. Dairy is on the right-side wall, with frozen and deli on the front wall. The registers run up the left side wall with grocery aisles running side to side in the middle. The layout hasn't changed in the renovation, but the appearance sure has.
While the store certainly wasn't bad before, the new look is stunning. A new, more spacious produce department is up first -- remarkable in such a small store -- with all-new fixtures. To orient yourself, the above picture is looking towards the entrance at the back, and the shelves with the potatoes and onions above is where the diagonal case running around the corner below is now.
The refrigerators separating the produce department from the walkway to the exit door have been removed in favor of a lower row of produce bins, which helps to open up the space too.
Produce continues into the first aisle, and packaged meat takes up the second half of the first aisle.
The new store is full of pictures of old Floral Park, a great local touch. And what's that we see below?
A picture of this very store years (decades) ago!
Opened: 2025 under current ownership; 1980 under previous ownership; ca. 1970s previously
Owner: Jose Collado and Mike Cawley
Previous Tenants: Key Food (1960s)
Cooperative: Key Food Stores
Location: 167 Tulip Ave, Floral Park, NY
Photographed: April 18, 2025 and January 23, 2026
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Not bad, considering this is what I could do in Google Photos to crop from the picture above it. This picture shows that the store has been expanded at least once and probably several times. Per Google Maps, the footprint is currently 10,000 square feet, though I imagine the store is larger because there's probably a basement.
The meat department, before and after...
The store really looks great. It looks like a new store, not a decades-old supermarket. The refrigeration didn't look that old before, but it was all replaced. Same goes for the flooring. And of course, the ceiling is beautiful and unusual.
Dairy lines the right-side wall of the store. Below, you can see the windows up on the front wall.
A fresh new dairy department is now in this spot, plus some really sharp-looking new aisle markers and category signs.
You'd hardly look at these "before" pictures and think, that's a store that's desparately in need of renovation. But that didn't stop the new owners here from redoing nearly everything.
It looks like the grocery shelving may not have been replaced in the renovation.
This is the only supermarket right in downtown Floral Park, but a Key Food is a little under a mile away. There's a very small Foodtown in Bellerose, about the same distance in the other direction. Larger stores are slightly farther away -- a Stop & Shop is about a mile and a quarter north in New Hyde Park, and a mile and a half southeast is a Holiday Farms. Holiday Farms, also a Key Food member, moved into a former King Kullen there in September 2022.
Like all Key Food stores in the northeast, this store carries Urban Meadow storebrand products and is supplied by C&S. Supplemental items are from C&S under the Best Yet and Full Circle brands. In the south, Key Food stores are supplied by UNFI and use Key Food and Essential Everyday brand items.
I've saved the best (maybe? The whole store is pretty great) for last. The tiny, cramped deli has been completely revamed, with a new coffee bar and bakery added. This one is a big change...
The new deli counter is roughly the same size but rearranged to be more spacious and open. It looks like one of the aisles may have been shortened slightly to accommodate this.
The deli is on the front wall, with the front entrance and exit just to the right of this picture below.
The new bakery counter and coffee bar faces the entrance and exit. It looks like they're baking certain things in-store, while others come in from a vendor.
Packaged cold cuts, cheeses, and other deli items were in the grocery aisle facing the deli counter. Now, there's a dedicated cheese island, and the rest has been moved into the second-to-last grocery aisle.
Frozen foods were previously in the second-to-last aisle here, with nonfoods in the last aisle. Now, frozen is in the last aisle with nonfoods moved over to aisle 6.
Frozen has been moved into the last aisle...
I love the arches! It's a nice, upscale touch.
The front-end has also been opened up a bit.
It was perfectly fine before, but it's been taken to a new level with a gorgeous design and a more intuitive layout. Four staffed registers and a couple self-checkouts.
This collage on the front wall includes a picture of an old Food Fair supermarket in town (top left), which I believe is now the Key Food.
It's great to see such a major remodel here, and it's nice to see that this longtime independent supermarket continues to live on. Clearly, the new owners are in it for the long haul. You wouldn't make this kind of investment only to close up shop and leave town a couple years later. (Unless you're Amazon, that is.)
Don't miss this weekend's other posts here!
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