The Market Report

Key Food Supermarkets Opening:  TBA Owner: Pablo Espinal Previous Tenants: none; A&P (late 1960s-ca. 1990) > Associated (1991-2021) previously on property Cooperative: Key Food Stores Location: 975 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY Photographed: July 15, 2026 Keep an eye on this ground floor space at 975 Nostrand in Crown Heights, Brooklyn: It's soon to become a Key Food supermarket, according to a real estate listing . (Knowing Key Food, it's entirely possible it'll actually open under a different name but still be connected to Key Food.) The supermarket will be around 17,000 square feet, so substantial but not that big. The interior build-out doesn't seem to have started yet, but the building is complete so now it's up to the supermarket operator. Who will run this Key Food? Well, it seems that it'll be run by Pablo Espinal. He had previously owned an Associated at this spot for 20 years before the store closed to make way for the new development, with m...

Original Grocery Tenant: Ernest Shopwell Supermarket Address: 262 Main St, West Orange, NJ Opened: unknown Closed: ca. 1980 Later Tenants:  Tory Corner Market (ca. 1980-ca. 1990) > Rite Aid (early 1990s-2019) > Walgreens (2019-2024) Photographed: February 24, 2025 This somewhat unremarkable former Rite Aid/Walgreens in downtown West Orange, NJ is actually a former supermarket. I don't know the entire history here, but by around 1970, it was the Ernest Shopwell Supermarket (not apparently related to the Daitch/Shopwell chain of New York), and around 1980, it became the Tory Corner Market affiliated with Fine Fare. Rite Aid was open by the early 1990s. The store is just under 10,000 square feet, and has been vacant since Walgreens closed in 2024. So why bother looking at this store now? A proposal that's gone all but completely under the radar is to demolish the former Rite Aid building along with a vacant former diner next to it to build this new, two-floor supermarke...

Key Food Island Supermarket Opening: TBA Owner: unknown Previous Tenants: Asian Food Markets (2022-2024) Cooperative: unknown Location: 2343 Forest Ave, Staten Island, NY Photographed: March 26, 2026 This weekend's posts include two rather strange ones. Here on Staten Island, a short-lived Asian Food Markets has new signage up for "Key Food Island" Supermarket, which (as far as I can tell) isn't related in any way to, well, Key Food . It's also unclear what exactly is happening with this property. Key Food Island Corp. was formed in the spring of 2025 at this location, but doesn't seem to be operating here (yet?). While there's very little information on Key Food Island -- most searching just brings you to Key Food -- there is a Facebook page and website that could be related, if slightly suspect with no real contact info  and Walmart branded grocery items . I couldn't get a good look inside the space, but as of late March, nothing really appe...

NeoVista Fresh Market Opening:  TBA Owner:  NeoVista Equities Previous Tenants: non-grocery tenants Cooperative: unknown Location:  52 James St, Albany, NY Photographed: March 22, 2026 Contributor:  Lars D. We travel to Albany today, to see some pictures sent in by our longtime contributor Lars. NeoVista Fresh Market has announced its arrival at 52 James Street in the center of the city. It's the latest creation of the NeoVista Equities private equity group with expanding holdings across the city, including the venerable Jack's Oyster House and other restaurants . But this group is slightly strange, and it's not clear they actually are getting into the supermarket business despite promising that it's coming soon. Two of the three notices spotted by Lars on the storefront are outdated, and despite a valid permit to gut the building's interior, he reports there was no evidence of any such work going on inside. A promised Brooklyn location at 836 Broadway seems t...

Golden Farms Supermarket Opening: TBA Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  200 Henry St, Hempstead, NY Photographed:  December 5, 2025 After recently gaining a Shop Fair and a Food Bazaar -- both replacing existing supermarkets, to be fair -- Hempstead is about to get another one, as Golden Farms nears completion south of downtown. This approximately 20,000 square foot store is a new-build and has been in progress for several years at least. Way back when, there was a strip mall on this property that had an Associated as the anchor, but it was demolished for a CVS. The picture above is kind of the back/side of the store, as it will actually face towards the CVS . Golden Farms signage is up around the property too, and this store will be just down the street from Hempstead's Foodtown . Golden Farms is a member of Key Food Stores, although it's not yet clear who the owner here will be (I've seen at least two names, R...

Future supermarket Opening: TBA Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  A&P > Met Foodmarkets > Rite Aid Cooperative:  unknown Location:  81 1st Ave, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  December 12, 2025 Here's a bit of a rarity: a single-floor drugstore building in lower Manhattan. It's only about 5500 square feet at ground level -- I assume there's a basement -- but even after Rite Aid has closed here, it isn't slated to be demolished for a multi-story mixed use development. Instead, a supermarket is moving into the space. In fact, it looks like the space was previously a supermarket, too. Commenters on local blog EV Grieve mention that it had been an A&P and then a Met Foods. That post also has slightly more updated pictures than mine. A mural runs along the side of the building,  The storefront is covered, but there are a few opportunities to peek inside. Here's a look through what will presumably be the main entrance. And through the big windows ac...

Amazon Fresh Opening: TBA Owner:  Amazon Previous Tenants:  Stop & Shop > Foodtown Cooperative:  none Location:  225 Ridgedale Ave, Cedar Knolls, NJ Photographed:  January 21 and 31, 2025 Another new Amazon Fresh is on its way ! The growing-yet-struggling chain is pushing forward with certain planned locations and it seems the former Foodtown in Cedar Knolls will be up next. Amazon has remodeled the building and expanded it to around 45,000 square feet, and you can see the facade is a bit different from the previous generation of stores. There remain a number of Amazon Fresh stores fully built, but not yet opened, across the country, while others have been sold or canceled . Amazon Fresh's strategy -- if they have one -- has yet to reveal itself to the public, and meanwhile, their execution is confusing and haphazard. So we'll see, because bigger transformations have happened before. It's entirely possible that, with a recent management change , Amaz...

Hashi Market Opening: TBA Owner:  Sheng Lin Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  75 Park Ln S, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  January 29, 2025 Literally steps from the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, Japanese grocery chain Hashi Market is planning to open a new, small-format Japanese specialty market . Hashi Market is actually owned by a company based in Tokyo, per the Tribeca Citizen -- which, they say, allows them to get more specialized products than a regular US-based importer. The store is small -- I'm not positive, but I'd guess in the 5000 square foot range -- and not much has happened inside the space yet, so it'll likely be a bit of time before it actually opens. But I'll keep an eye on it, and you can be sure I'll be back once it opens! There's more to see this weekend... Saturday ACME Markets - Bronxville, NY ACME Markets - Hoboken, NJ Hashi Market - Jersey City, NJ  (this post) Amazon Fresh - Cedar Knolls, NJ Sunday  (the...

ShopRite of Middletown, NJ Owner: Richard Saker / Saker Supermarkets Opened:  1990s-2021 Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  1361 NJ-35, Middletown, NJ Photographed:  January 2021 It's time for our next Saker ShopRite here in Middletown! The approximately 75,000 square foot store was built in the 1990s as a replacement for an older, approximately 47,000 square foot store at the other end of the mall.  Less than 30 years later, it's already been replaced by a brand-new , even larger store across the highway. It's in a former Sears, spanning over 120,000 square feet. We'll get a peek at the new facility at the end of this post. Like in many cases, though, I'm fairly certain the move is less about the size or age of the existing facility and more about the location. This is an extremely difficult mall to get into and out of, and you have to drive through the entire rest of the mall to get back to the ShopRite, which is right n...