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Special Report: NetCost Market - Brooklyn, NY (Gravesend)

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By Zachary
NetCost Market
Opened: April 14, 2026
Owner: Sam Shnayder
Previous Tenants: Waldbaum's (open by 1960s) > Key Food (2006-2025)
Cooperative: none
Location: 599 Ave Z, Brooklyn, NY
Photographed: April 24, 2026
Recently, a former Rite Aid here in Gravesend reopened as an Associated Supermarket. When that store opened, it filled a need as the longtime Key Food just a couple blocks away had recently closed. Now, that closed Key Food has been reborn as a NetCost Market. The New York City native chain of Eastern European supermarkets, which now has locations in four states, has opened its latest location here in the former 15,000 square foot Key Food on Avenue Z. While Key Food had only been here for about 20 years, it's been a supermarket since at least the 1960s, when this space was home to a Waldbaum's.
NetCost has some very nice stores. This one doesn't seem to have changed all that much from its Key Food days, both in terms of the setup (it was only closed for a couple months for the renovation and changeover) and the selection, though of course the selection of mainstream groceries is much smaller here now and the selection of Eastern European food is much larger. Still, it seemed to me that they're making an effort here to include a range of mainstream American products in a way that some of their other stores don't have. In the picture above, which shows the back of the store facing the parking lot, you can see that the awning remains from the Key Food days but just with the Key Food logo painted over.
The store is set up with the front-end along the right side wall, and an entrance/exit each at the front and the back. Produce is on the back wall, with deli/bakery on the left side wall, frozen in the middle of the store, and dairy at the front. Key Food had the meat department with deli and bakery on the left side, but to expand those departments, NetCost has moved the meat department into the front of the store. The aisles run side to side.
I've included pictures of the Key Food at the end of this post. NetCost replaced the decor and gave everything a paint job, but the majority of the fixtures seem to be left over, as is the flooring and possibly the grocery shelving. The Key Food was on the older side, but in excellent shape when it closed.
NetCost also replaced some of the lighting.
The signature prepared foods bars with hot and cold ready-to-eat foods are in the back here, with salads and pickles in one bar...
...and then others with hot entrees, baked goods, and appetizers. Key Food didn't have this selection of prepared foods.
The grocery aisles are extremely tidy and bright, and you can see here the product mix includes both European items and American ones. Key Food also had a very large selection of European products, but again, the balance has shifted.
NetCost briefly owned two higher-end stores under the Gourmanoff brand, but now uses that brand for the in-store kitchens. Those two Gourmanoff stores are now simply branded NetCost Market.
Included in NetCost's deli is a dedicated counter for smoked fish and caviar. Believe it or not, Key Food actually had a similar counter, though it was in a slightly different location.
The deli and bakery are next to this area.
Key Food had an island with deli and bakery counters approximately where this case holding cold cuts and sausages is now, and Key Food's meat department was on the wall under this alcove.
A large in-store bakery includes lots of Eastern Euoprean breads (think rye and sourdoughs) and pastries.
Frozen foods are approximately in the middle of the store, and the grocery aisles run side to side.
Meat and dairy are then in the last aisle, which is on the front wall of the store.
And the registers line the right-side wall...
Now let's take a look at the Key Food!

Key Food Supermarkets
Open: 2006-2025
Owner: Yeong Shim
Previous Tenants: Waldbaum's (open by 1960s)
Cooperative: Key Food Stores
Location: 599 Ave Z, Brooklyn, NY
Photographed: April 5, 2024
A newspaper ad showed this store's grand opening in 2006, but it's possible that it was more of a grand reopening than a first time opening. I don't know what was here between Waldbaum's in the 1960s and Key Food by 2006.
Key Food looked somewhat dated inside, but you can see it was maintained well and had actually gotten some significant renovation in recent years. This area at the back, home to the produce department, was previously dairy (as you can tell from the remaining sign).
Notice the shelving for the apples, which appears to be the same that NetCost now uses. Although the wall decor was old, you can see much of the refrigeration was quite a bit newer.
NetCost definitely cleaned up the store -- Key Food was clean, but cluttered.
And Key Food was a general, mainstream supermarket in a way that NetCost is not. The new Associated is, but it's a bit smaller and has fewer services.
You can see that the flooring remains from Key Food's time here, and it looks like NetCost might be using Key Food's grocery shelving, too. All of this was relatively new when Key Food closed, which makes me wonder if the closure may have originated from NetCost taking over the space rather than Key Food deciding to close due to low volume or something like that.
The owner of this Key Food was Yeong Shim, who also owns a handful of other supermarkets in the city.
Here you can see the deli-bakery island, with the deli counter facing out towards the grocery aisles and the bakery at the back. Meat lined the wall behind this island.
Unlike most Key Food locations, this one did actually have a full in-store bakery (which, of course, NetCost has kept and expanded) and also sourced a large variety of Eastern European breads from other bakeries. Many of these are now being made in-store by NetCost.
Here's a look at the meat department opposite the bakery.
Also in the deli-bakery island was this large selection of European deli foods, again a selection that NetCost has expanded.
Looking back towards the produce department...
NetCost didn't replace the freezers, but did update the decor and make all the aisles less cluttered.
Key Food's dairy department was here in the last aisle on the front wall -- and you can see the old produce sign -- and NetCost has now reduced the dairy department to just one side of the aisle to accommodate the new meat department.
It's interesting to see how NetCost has worked with what was already here, modernizing it and making it more specialized. It's also good that this longtime supermarket building remains a supermarket for the foreseeable future, as it's well-documented that many supermarkets that close aren't replaced by other grocers.
That's all for this store, but there's lots more to see this weekend!

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