The Market Report

Food Bazaar Supermarket Opened: May 28, 2026 Owner: Spencer An Previous Tenants: none; Finast (closed ca. 1980) > CTown (1981-early 1990s) > Pioneer (late 1990s) > Food Bazaar (ca. late 1990s-2023) previously on property Cooperative:  none Location:  34-20 Junction Blvd, Corona, NY Photographed: May 29, 2026 and May 30, 2026 Welcome back to Jackson Heights (or Corona -- we're right on the border here). It's been a long time, but way back in January 2020, I posted the Food Bazaar that was here, a roughly 25,000 square foot store with a large parking lot. The store was pretty nice, but old -- in fact, it was built back around 1960 as a Finast. By 1981, it had become a CTown. Now, in 1988, Francis An had opened a CTown in a former Waldbaum's about a mile south. At some point, he also took over this CTown, and in the late 1990s, both stores became Pioneers, I believe along with one in New Jersey . By around 2000, they left CTown and were rebranded Food Bazaar, be...

Alright folks, not only do we have another Food Bazaar tour today (that's right, I've photographed 18 of the 26 Food Bazaars, so what?), but today's store is the original Food Bazaar. Francis An immigrated to the United States from Korea via Argentina and found it difficult to source food from either of those two countries, despite the fact that Elmhurst and Corona had large Korean and Argentinian populations, respectively. So when this Waldbaum's became vacant on the border between those two neighborhoods, it was only natural that An moved in under the Food Bazaar name. Today, Francis An's son Spencer continues to run the chain with a total of 26 stores and at least one more on the way. This store also features a Groundswell mural on the side, which we've seen before at the Junction , Wyckoff , Myrtle , and  Manhattan  Food Bazaars. This one is called "The Seed of Diversity." This panorama is one of my favorites I've taken. Now let...