Special Report: Food Universe Marketplace - Brooklyn, NY (Bensonhurst)

Food Universe Marketplace
Opened: January 11, 2021

Owner: Ennis & Rowhie Said

Previous Tenants: non-grocery tenants

Cooperative: Key Food Stores

Location: 1982-84 86th St, Brooklyn, NY

Photographed: February 16, 2024, December 22, 2025, and April 24, 2026

Welcome to Bensonhurst! We're here to take an extensive look at this little corner supermarket. It opened in a former PC Richard & Son store of a bit under 8,000 square feet in 2021. Just a few years later, the neighboring Dunkin' Donuts closed. So in 2025, the owners expanded into the space. It only increased the sales floor of the supermarket by a few hundred square feet, but they changed the layout upon expanding somewhat.

2024

We're going to start by touring the supermarket in 2024, prior to any expansion projects starting.

It's located on a corner, and extends way back from 86th Street, the main drag here. It's an L-shape, with just a narrow segment going all the way out to 86th Street at the front, and the back part being wider. Prior to the expansion, the produce, deli, and bakery departments were in that narrow front part. The registers were in the back-left corner along the left side wall, and the exit was back there. Dairy lined the back wall, with meat and frozen foods on the right side of the back portion. Now, the registers have been moved up to the front of the store and the rear exit has been closed. Beer now occupies the registers' former home.

You can see that, like so many New York City supermarkets, they make the most of the space they have in this small footprint.

The deli-bakery area was on the right side of the narrow front portion, with an entrance-only at the front.

And the first aisle, on the left side of the store, took us straight to the registers in the back-left corner...

The grocery aisles were and continue to be dense and packed, since the store is so small.

Here's a look at the back-left corner of the store. You can see it's nice looking, but even three years in it didn't look like a brand-new store (due more to design and decor than maintenance, which seems to be quite good).

Frozen foods and meat are in the back-right corner...

Deli is the only service counter in the store. Although meat is cut in-store, it looks like that happens in a basement, so there's no service butcher.

Nonfoods are also in this section.

So now let's check out the remodel in progress at the end of 2025...

2025

Right away, we can tell the look of the store has changed. It bears some similarities to the new Metro Acres Market in the East Village -- that's not a coincidence, the same two brothers own both stores.

The produce department is expanded because there's a bit more room to work with here, and registers now line the front wall with an exit out to 86th Street...

...and the deli has also been expanded with a new hot food and salad bar.

The expansion was a tiny area, but it's enough to spread this out and shuffle the layout to make it more logical. But you can see they've also replaced the flooring, redone the ceiling and lighting, and replaced some of the fixtures.

Produce and juice continue down the first aisle, with beer where the registers used to be.

Signage remained for the old customer service counter, but it's been moved up to the front of the store. Dairy now takes up this whole area.

In the rear part of the store, the flooring has been switched to polished concrete. The ceiling has also been taken out throughout the store.

Mostly, this side of the store didn't change, although the meat department was expanded with some new refrigeration.

Here's some new cases going in to the last aisle, which previously had paper goods in this spot.

And one more look at the new front-end before we head out...

...but not for long. Now it's 2026, and we're back to see what I believe to be the completed remodel.

2026

The section to the right, with the circular logo and blue awning, was previously the Dunkin'. You can see the new exit here, and the entrance remains on the corner of the storefront.

The produce department looking quite a bit more spacious than the original iteration. I imagine the opportunity to streamline the layout and expand the selection a little was tempting enough to fully remodel the store just four years after opening.

The expanded prepared foods and cheese areas next to the new deli...

And looking back up towards the front of the produce department...

New refrigeration covers up the former front-end, which used to be basically exactly where I'm standing below.

The remodel also seems to be intended to make the store look slightly higher-end (it's still a mainstream, straightforward supermarket, though), and you can see the blue and white color scheme on the walls is gone. New, more modern aisle markers also are in.