The Market Report

Today's store tour is a very newly renovated store in the Pelham Bay neighborhood of the Bronx. At just under 24,000 square feet, it actually becomes one of the larger supermarkets in this part of the borough. Pelham Bay, by the way, is in the far eastern part of the Bronx, just to the north of Throggs Neck . Pelham Bay is a notably higher income neighborhood of the Bronx, with a large Italian population. And that brings us to Bonavita Market (now Key Food, formerly Pioneer), owned by Salvatore Bonavita. Clearly Bonavita is the family name, but it's also an excellent name for a supermarket as it translates to "good life." The parking lot, by the way, is covered with solar panels, as is the store's roof. Heading to the storefront, we find an enclosed bulk and sale section which runs along the store's front wall (which faces the parking lot). We enter to produce in the first aisle running along Westchester Avenue, or the left side of the store, with del...

Key Food Supermarkets Opened: ca. 1990s Owner:  Sal Bonavita Previous Tenants: Pioneer (1980-ca. 1990s) Cooperative: Key Food Stores Location: 4171 White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY Photographed:  March 8, 2019 and March 27, 2024 Before we begin, just a heads up: this was originally posted in August 2020, but was rewritten with new photos in July 2026. Now for the post! This 9200 square foot supermarket was previously a Pioneer until the late 1990s, when Sal Bonavita joined the Key Food cooperative. Today, the Bonavita chain (which has three stores in this part of the Bronx) runs under the name Bonavita Market with secondary Key Food branding. This is one of two Key Food stores on White Plains Road, the other is a former Met Foods down in Allerton. Above is the storefront from my original 2019 picture, and now let's take a look at the store's present-day appearance. The exterior got a fresh coat of paint around 2020, and that also seems to be when the interior was redone with...