The Market Report

Spotted outside an antique store in Maine. Here's a box that would've been used to transport soft drinks to Finast stores, and a look at some of the drinks they would've taken. We have another antique-store Finast memorabilia post tomorrow!

Key Food Supermarkets Opened: ca. 1990s Owner:  Sal Bonavita Previous Tenants: Pioneer (1980-ca. 1990s) Cooperative: Key Food Stores Location: 4171 White Plains Rd, Bronx, NY Photographed:  March 8, 2019 and March 27, 2024 Before we begin, just a heads up: this was originally posted in August 2020, but was rewritten with new photos in July 2026. Now for the post! This 9200 square foot supermarket was previously a Pioneer until the late 1990s, when Sal Bonavita joined the Key Food cooperative. Today, the Bonavita chain (which has three stores in this part of the Bronx) runs under the name Bonavita Market with secondary Key Food branding. This is one of two Key Food stores on White Plains Road, the other is a former Met Foods down in Allerton. Above is the storefront from my original 2019 picture, and now let's take a look at the store's present-day appearance. The exterior got a fresh coat of paint around 2020, and that also seems to be when the interior was redone with...

Today's memorabilia post is a second Ann Page product, this one featuring black pepper. (See yesterday's post here .) Does anyone know whether the color difference on this compared to the celery salt indicates different ages of the two products, or were they produced simultaneously but just with different color packaging for different spices? I recently bought whole black peppercorns and was shocked at how expensive they were... but then again, the last jar I bought lasted me about two years. So there's that.

This blogger is a big fan of Food Universe , a banner of Staten Island-based Key Food Stores, whose stores tend to be very attractive, relatively updated and modern, and well-run. This one is no exception. Although I didn't get any interior pictures, I did step inside to grab a circular and the store looked bright, clean, and well-stocked. Check out the interior here . The store is owned by Aljenis Lanfranco and opened under current ownership in 2013. Photographed March 2019

Another round of spice containers here with the next two memorabilia posts. It's also another antique store find. Ann Page was the private label brand of A&P (hence the AP initials) when it was popular to brand products with a person's name, such as ACME's Virginia Lee brand. For ACME to sell a brand called Ann Charlotte Mercer Evans or something would be... much less catchy than A&P's Ann Page.

This 9700 square foot store was previously a Met Foodmarket until about 2006. Today, it's the Foodtown of White Plains and has recently received some light renovation . It's owned by Alejandro Collado, no idea whether he's related to Carlos Collado of the Fine Fares at 3315 and 3550 White Plains. This Foodtown is located at 3734 White Plains Road. Photographed March 2019

Walking around my neighborhood, I found this bag that someone had put out with the garbage. Unfortunately, it had probably been kept in a basement or something as it was damp and mildewy. My asthma would not have taken kindly to it. It's hard to tell exactly which Foodtown it came from, as my town hasn't had a Foodtown for probably 30 years at least. It's entirely possible it came from that store, as it shows the pre-1996 logo, but it's also possible it came from the still-in-business Foodtown a few towns to the north which is popular among some residents of my town too.

This Fine Fare at 3550 White Plains Road is quite possibly one of the first Fine Fares to open. It opened under current ownership in 1995, and is owned by Carlos Collado, whose 3315 White Plains location we saw yesterday (it's about a quarter of a mile south on White Plains Road). While this location is obviously older, if 3315 is any indication, this ought to be a pretty solid place too. Photographed March 2019

Yesterday we took a look at three different bags in which circular ads would be mailed to people's homes. This first bag features an advertisement for Twin City Supermarkets, a local chain in northern NJ. This bag was printed and distributed about 5 years ago. Since then, the Bridgewater and Jersey City locations have been converted to the Aqui Market banner and a new Aqui Market has opened in Califon. See our coverage of Califon , Sip Avenue , Garfield Avenue , and Elizabeth on The Market Report. The rest of the stores listed on this bag will be coming soon to the blog -- yes, I've photographed them all, along with more detailed coverage of Califon! And this bag for Supremo Food Market. This bag has long confused me, mostly because I don't actually know how old it is. But I'd assumed Plainfield and Irvington opened around 2005-2007 (with Elizabeth being the first and Jersey City being the second). I don't think the bag is actually that old so that means they were...

This approximately 6300 square foot former Social Security office was converted to a Fine Fare in 2008 by owner Carlos Collado. While it's a very small store, it's a nicely outfitted and attractively merchandised example of an urban supermarket. While this store is about half the size of yesterday's Pioneer , and only about two blocks north, it's clearly a better managed store -- better stocked, better organized, and cleaner. With produce in the front corner, the first aisle is lined with dairy products. Meats and deli run along the back wall with frozen in the last aisle. It's not a large store, but certainly complete and well-used. Six grocery aisles, three registers plus customer service. This store is located at 3315 White Plains Road. Photographed March 2019

In 2009, a brand-new Pioneer Supermarket opened on the ground floor of a newly built mixed use complex at 3035 White Plains Road. It replaced a much older -- but also much larger -- Pioneer immediately next door  that appears to have been owned by Leonard Franzblau. I believe the new store is owned by Neftali Medina, though I can no longer find the record that led me to that conclusion. Medina owned the Fresh Imperium locations in Landing and Jefferson , along with other assorted stores. The store is simultaneously nice and kind of depressing. It's pretty up-to-date, but also disorganized and, in many places, irregularly stocked (such as these empty compartments of the produce case). Produce lines the first aisle, with deli at the back. Meat lines the back wall with frozen in the second-to-last aisle and dairy in the last aisle. Some pretty sparse meat shelves around here. In this closeup of the meat department sign (by the way, I do like the decor in this stor...