The Market Report

Let's review. On this block of Nostrand Ave, we have The Meat Place next door to this Key Food, with KP Farm Market next door to that and Isaac Natural Foods two doors up from that. We've already seen a Key Food in Flatbush, at the north end of the neighborhood on Flatbush Ave, and there are no fewer than five Key Foods on Nostrand: 367 , 653 , 1232 , 1905 (this one), and 2326 . 653 and 2326, by the way, are currently being remodeled. It's been quite a while since this particular Key Food was remodeled, but even though it's pretty old, it's still looking clean and well-stocked. This 7,000 square foot store features a tiny deli immediately inside the entrance, with produce and dairy in the first aisle. Dairy and meat line the back wall of the store, with frozen in the last aisle. Zaha Ahmed owns this store, and I believe a few other Key Food locations. I must say that, although it's not the most modern, I do like the decor. At least it's...

There are two CTown Supermarkets on Nostrand Ave. This, the southern location, is the newer of the two stores, having opened in 2016, and is owned by Samer Abdel Hamid. Amina Abdel Hamid, who is likely Samer's sister, owns the northern location at 1361 Nostrand. The 3800 square foot store is tiny, but a very important resource. The prices were across the board very low, with lots of fresh products. No, it's not fancy, but they have everything you could want at very reasonable prices. Check out that produce selection! Produce and meat line the first aisle, with frozen foods on the back wall and in the last aisle. Dairy finishes out the last aisle. There are only four aisles in total. Nice floor and shelves. I also appreciate how clean and uncluttered the store is! Frozen foods and dairy in the last aisle. You can see the conveyor to the basement, where the storage probably is, on the right side. Aaaaaand... chandeliers on the front end. Because why not...

This store appears to trace its roots to Royal Farms as early as the 50s or 60s (Royal Farms owned Big R, which has since mostly been split between Food Bazaar and Food World). It operated as a CTown until 2018, when it was rebranded to Food Universe Marketplace. The thing I'm stuck on is whether ownership changed at that point. While the CTown was owned by Shee Chun Lee, who also owns the Superfresh in Irvington , it's also listed on the website for Green Acre Farms, a Caribbean store over on Utica Ave that we'll be seeing shortly. Green Acre and two Key Food locations, which are listed on the website along with this one, are owned by Shri Persaud. Persaud also, however, owns at least two other Food Universe  locations, while 2018 records list the store as 1188 Flatbush Meat & Produce (Lee's company) d/b/a Food Universe, suggesting there was never an ownership change. Meanwhile, I can't find any evidence that Lee or an affiliate purchased Persaud's...

Original Tenant:  Possibly Food Fair, Waldbaum's, or something else with a tower Address:  2200 Clarendon Rd, Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:   Key Food Supermarkets (??-2013), King Food Market (2013-2014) Photographed:  May 2019 As you can see if you click on the name King Food Market, Harmony Funeral Home did very little to this building when they moved in in 2015. It still has a distinctive supermarket look to it. This building is located on Clarendon Road in the first block east of Flatbush Avenue, i.e., just about 140 yards from JK Flatbush Farm . As tempting as it is to say that a 10,000 square foot is simply too large to survive in this area where space is at a premium, there's also a 10,000 square foot Food Universe Marketplace just about another 140 yards south of this store. We'll be seeing that in a couple days, but (and we're skipping this store, which I think is fine with everyone)...

Just up the street from the Flatbush Food Coop is the Cortelyou Market by Key Food. Formerly a Met Foodmarket that had been in business for more than 20 years, this location was expanded, renovated, and rebranded by owner Khalid Doleh in 2015 to Cortelyou Market by Key Food. The renovation included a new grand aisle with produce, dairy, and cheese on the far right of the store, new decor throughout, a revamped deli in the front left corner, an increased focus on gourmet and natural products, and an increase in size to just over 6,000 square feet, making this store slightly smaller than the Coop. It's an extremely attractive store, however, and it has a nice combination of upscale specialty products and basic groceries. Dairy lines the left side of the first aisle, with produce on the right side. Meat runs along the back wall, with frozen foods and deli/hot food in the last aisle. There is a cheese island at the back of the first aisle. This store is undoubtedly m...