The Market Report

Avocado Supermarket Opened: July 2025 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  Associated Supermarkets (open in 1950) > unknown > Gem Discount Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  84-37 Jamaica Ave, Woodhaven, Queens, NY Photographed:  September 9, 2025 When you see a longtime independent supermarket closing, it's very rare to see a brand-new one open right next door. But that's exactly what's happened here in Woodhaven, Queens, where Scaturro closed after more than six decades in business just as a new independent called Avocado Supermarket opened up literally next door. In fact, in the picture below, you can see the edge of the Scaturro storefront to the far right. Occupying a former discount store that itself appears to have been an Associated Supermarket way back in 1950, Avocado opened in July. The store is about 7600 square feet -- slightly larger than Scaturro was, but it feels much bigger, in part because there's a lot more open space, but als...

Metro Acres Market Opened:  early July 2025 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  Crest > Big V > Drug Palace > Rite Aid > Walgreens Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  3085 E Tremont Ave, Bronx, NY Photographed:  July 18, 2025 I've returned to the new Metro Acres Market in Schuylerville, the Bronx to visit the store after its opening! My unfortunately-timed last visit was just days before it actually opened. The store is only 8300 square feet, so it's pretty small, and although it was most recently a Rite Aid-turned-Walgreens, it started out as a Crest supermarket, later a Big V. As I mentioned on that post, the store was apparently originally slated to be a Fine Fare, but it switched to Metro Acres prior to opening. And as I mentioned, there seems to be not much difference between those brands. You enter on the left side of the storefront to the grand aisle, with deli/bakery on the left side and produce on the right side. Meat and ref...

Metro Acres Market Opened: July 2025 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  Crest > Big V > Drug Palace > Rite Aid > Walgreens Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  3085 E Tremont Ave, Bronx, NY Photographed:  June 30, 2025 A disclaimer: this post is shorter than I'd want it to be. Last weekend, Metro Acres Market opened up here in the Schuylerville neighborhood in the eastern Bronx, but unfortunately I haven't been here since the store actually opened. I visited shortly before it opened, however, and so we'll see the store in the final days of its construction before it opened. This 8300 square foot building was almost certainly built as a supermarket, operating as a Crest Supermarket by the late 1960s and by the 1970s it was Big V (not sure if it was related to the ShopRite-affiliated chain in the Hudson Valley called Big V, but I assume not). By 1985, it had become a drugstore called Drug Palace. It was later a Rite Aid and then a Walgreens. ...

Shop Fair Supermarkets Opening: TBA Owner:  Anibal Rodriguez Previous Tenants:  Waldbaum's > V&C Supermarket Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  12 N Franklin St, Hempstead, NY Photographed:  April 18, 2025 The grocery scene of downtown Hempstead is changing. Last fall, the Stop & Shop closed and, after an overnight transition, became Food Bazaar . Earlier in 2024, longtime Asian supermarket V&C closed, and it's now set to become a Shop Fair after extensive renovations. I stopped by the store on April 18 to find the renovation in full swing. I caught a few glimpses inside the windows, and it looks like the interior will be similar to this (that's a location in the Bronx). But at almost 40,000 square feet, this will be quite a bit larger than all the other Shop Fair locations. It's also one of the relatively few locations outside New York City for the group. If you zoom into the above picture, you can see the signage being installed on ...

Fine Fare Gold Opened: Spring 2025 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  Safeway > assorted non-grocery tenants > Metro Acres Market Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  4188 Broadway, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  April 7, 2025 After opening last October , the small Metro Acres Market just across from the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights has rebranded. I don't know if it's been sold or just changed its name, but it's now a Fine Fare Gold supermarket. Fine Fare Gold is apparently the branding they're using for higher-end stores, and this is the only one currently but another is in progress in Inwood , about 15 blocks north. The store looks basically the same inside, and I couldn't detect any significant difference in product selection. Both Metro Acres and Fine Fare are part of the same cooperative and supplied by the same warehouse -- General Trading -- so I don't really know the reason for the change. Even stranger is that there's...

City Supermarket Opened: summer 2024 Owner:  Mitchel Lopez Previous Tenants:  Associated Supermarkets > ExpresSupermarket > Kenilworth Fresh Market Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  488 Kenilworth Blvd, Kenilworth, NJ Photographed:  January 15, 2025 It's time once again to visit the tiny City Supermarket in Kenilworth for a look as they wrap up the renovation. The store is just 5300 square feet, but it's becoming a more and more full supermarket every day as City rearranges the store. You can refresh your memory on this location by reading my last post here . In the first aisle, new dairy and frozen cases line the front wall. Additional dairy cases line the side wall, with meat in the back part of the side wall. All the fixtures and flooring are new, and City has finished installing new decor, too. The grocery aisles are well-stocked with a lot to choose from, including a lot  of storebrands (I spotted Parade from Retail Grocers Group, wh...