The Market Report

Just up the street from yesterday's King Kullen, we find a 30,000 square foot former Waldbaum's that was replaced in 2012 by a Pick Quick Foods-owned Key Food. While the outside still has a Waldbaum's feel to it, we'll see that the inside has been beautifully remodeled. The storefront faces Sunrise Highway (to the right), while the aisles run along the left side of the store (facing the parking lot, to the left). The produce department lines the left of the store, with meats along the back wall. Frozen is in the second-to-last aisle with dairy in the last aisle, and deli-bakery-prepared foods are in the front corner. Clearly quite a change from the Waldbaum's days! The 2012 decor is still looking beautiful today. The store is also immaculate, so that always helps. I'm assuming this produce department is larger than Waldbaum's would have been, and Pick Quick probably took out a grocery aisle to expand it. This wall faces the parking lot. The...

Our first (and probably last) King Kullen here on The Market Report. This 24-hour store is across the downtown section of Rockville Centre from the Associated . This Long Island chain, one I'm not familiar with at all, has recently been acquired by the Stop & Shop supermarket chain. It's located here at 127 Sunrise Hwy, Rockville Centre, NY. Photographed December 2018

This has to be the oldest operating Associated Supermarket out there. Its corporate entity, Rockville Associated Market, Inc., was formed in 1962 (Associated had been in business since 1954). It's quite possible the exterior tower sign and interior decor is from day 1. The A&P Preservation blogger and I have also theorized that the store is a very early A&P and that the decor was the last decor packaged used with roughly this store design before the sunrise logo. I doubt it was built as an Associated, though. Maybe some supermarket historians out there will be able to offer some input! That said, looking at the pictures again, it almost looks like a 1980s homemade decor package. Might be some combination of all that. Anyway, the first aisle, which runs along the front wall of the store, is frozen foods. Seafood and meat are on the right side wall of the store, with produce and dairy on the back wall. Checkouts line the left side wall. Regardless of how old the...

Happy March! We moved through North Hempstead pretty quickly, now it's time to head south to the Town of Hempstead. We're hitting the key villages and hamlets: Garden City, downtown Hempstead, Baldwin, Valley Stream, and a few other locations here and there. As we'll see, there's a lot of variation here, in store size and style, income level of the communities, brands, and more. This group will feature stores on The Market Report, The Independent Edition , and for the first time in a while, Grocery Archaeology ! We're going to jump right into Garden City tomorrow!