The Market Report

We're coming back to the Key Food Marketplace of Beacon, NY for a real store tour. Let's begin with some history here. The supermarket was built at some point prior to 1965 (Historic Aerials doesn't go back farther than that here), and my guess would be in the 50s, as a Grand Union. GU had a significant presence in the Hudson Valley and while quite a few of the stores have closed for good, many of them were purchased by Tops (such as Tannersville ), Hannaford ( Kingston ,  Pawling ), or Key Food operators. Others became Grand Union Family Markets run by C&S ( Saugerties ). I can't seem to find the previous owner's name right now, but he owned several other stores as well. If I'm not mistaken, he currently owns only one store. Junior Dabashi, whose family also owns supermarkets in New York City, bought this store, the Mahopac location (now demolished for a new Stop & Shop), and the Milford, PA location from the same previous owner, although he purc...

Supermarket Mysteries I: Decor This post includes: - Greenport IGA, Greenport, NY - Key Food Marketplace, Beacon, NY - Jack's Foodtown, North Arlington, NJ The Greenport IGA Image from Google Maps Street View. The Greenport IGA seems normal enough from this Google Maps street view from 2012. Any seasoned supermarket expert will tell you right off the bat this is an A&P Centennial model, and they'd be right. That's not the mystery here. Here's a close-up of the storefront taken by a family member. Seems average enough, right? Take a look inside through those windows. First of all, that Customer Service sign looks like it belong in an Acme Theme Park store,  not a small IGA. (By the way, it's not from an Acme Theme Park store. Does anyone recognize it? I'm not too familiar with Long Island supermarkets, but it could be Waldbaum's or King Kullen, neither of which I know well.) But take a closer look at the signage on t...