Shop Fair Supermarkets
Opened: October 1, 2026
Welcome to Harlem, where a local group of stores has just opened one that's shiny and new! Emphasis on the shiny. More on that soon. Most of the Shop Fair stores I've posted recently are owned by Anibal Rodriguez, whose collection of supermarkets continues expanding. But the group of stores also has a number of other owners, and one of them owns this new Harlem store (I'm not entirely sure exactly who the owner is, though). This is a former Rite Aid, and it's around 15,000 square feet, although I also don't know exactly how large it is. For a long time, I got the sense that the Shop Fair and related Fine Fare stores were kind of just unremarkable, mostly not bad but not that interesting. Lately, though, the group's new openings have been up a notch, and this store is no different. Let's check it out.
This Shop Fair definitely has a more premium feel, with an extensively-renovated, modern interior. We enter to the rather substantial grand aisle on the left side of the store, with self-serve baked goods on the left side and a service bakery counter opposite. Produce takes up most of the rest of the front-left corner of the store, with service deli, hot food, and sushi counters winding around the right side. Grab and go prepared foods and cheese are between them. Meat is at the back of the store, with frozen and dairy on the right side. Because the store is deep but somewhat narrow, the grocery aisles are split in half.
You can tell right away this store is a noticeable step up from most Shop Fair stores, even those that are still nice supermarkets. A full in-store bakery, sushi bar, and expansive gourmet cheese section are more deluxe features not typically found in this type of store. This part of Harlem has gentrified over the years, though, so this is definitely in line with what customers around here expect. Although there's a LIDL in the next block north -- it's a former Best Market that has not held up well over the years -- a large Lincoln Market is just north of that, with the same deluxe features as this store. A really old-school, tiny CTown is a block south or so.
Harlem even has a handful of other Shop Fair stores that are very different from this one. They're not bad stores, but just a completely different type -- mainstream supermarkets with a variety of regular old food, not the same variety of organic produce, specialty cheeses, or fresh baked goods that this one has.
I mentioned that this store is shiny, and that's the main thing I remember about it. All of the fixtures are shiny reflective metal, and the floor is very shiny polished concrete, too. It has the same look as a store like this (not to mention a very similar layout), but I don't believe they're related.
The deli, hot food, and sushi counters are back up by the produce department. Instead of these departments being next to the grocery aisles, as is very common, they're one behind the other.
Even the hot food bar is a step up here, with food displayed in serving trays on a hot plate rather than the more common steam table.
Opened: October 1, 2026
Owner: unknown
Previous Tenants: Rite Aid
Cooperative: Retail Grocers Group / General Trading
Location: 2170 Frederick Douglass Blvd, Manhattan, NY
Photographed: October 7, 2026
And the registers back up at the front. It's great to see another new independent supermarket here in Harlem, and a really nice one to boot. Here's a look at the rest of this weekend's posts!
Saturday
- LIDL and ALDI each open New York City stores
- A Bronx independent moves next door and rebrands
- A former Harlem Rite Aid becomes a shiny new supermarket
Sunday
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