The Market Report

We're in for a treat today. This store has been a CTown for many years, though it was definitely a big chain store before that. It offers a fascinating combination of traditional groceries, Middle Eastern and South Asian foods, Latin and Caribbean foods, and organic and specialty items. Quite a bit for being just 7800 square feet. We can see what the exterior used to look like here . It's hard to pinpoint when the renovations both inside and outside happened, but I would guess around 2010. We'll head inside in a moment, to see the bones of a very familiar CTown store format with updated decor and fixtures. While CTown stores are independently owned, we do see some standardized decor among the store locations, such as the decor this location previously had. From what I can tell, here's some notes on the CTown (and later, Bravo) decor packages. All the dates are complete estimates. 1980s - This decor. We can see the bones of it still intact here. A very si...

Except not really, as the 50-store chain has gone out of business . Our contributor Atlas K. has offered photos of his apron from when he was an employee of the chain. That's all the memorabilia we have for today, but I promise Grocery Archaeology is coming back soon with coverage of store locations!

There are two Ferreira Foods-owned Foodtowns in Jamaica, with this one at Parsons Blvd and 84th Rd (eight blocks north of Hillside Ave), and one to the east of this at Jamaica Ave and 173rd St (four blocks south of Hillside). The Jamaica Ave location was also the original King Kullen supermarket. I'm pretty sure this location was a Waldbaum's previously, though all the Ferreira stores were Met Foodmarkets until 2014, when they became Foodtowns. The layout here is fairly standard: produce in the first aisle, with deli/bakery at the back and customer service at the front; meats along the back wall; dairy in the last aisle; frozen in the front corner. The decor is on the older side, but as we'll see, the store is in great condition, absolutely spotless throughout. And no, the sign doesn't say "del bak," but the letters are shiny metal which reflects oddly to make the i and ery invisible at this angle. Deli runs along the side wall (to the righ...

Today we have a quick look at a Key Food in Briarwood, just north of Richmond Hill , which was photographed by our contributor Joe Z. who was eating at the now-closed Flagship Diner just across the street. This store, clearly constructed from a few different buildings that have been combined into one supermarket, appears to have been owned by Dan's Supreme Supermarkets  until 2018 but is now owned by an independent operator. It's located at 138-37 Queens Blvd, Briarwood, NY. Photographed March 2018

What is referred to as "Jamaica" takes up most of eastern Queens, so we're going to begin with the northern section, encompassing Richmond Hill, Briarwood, downtown Jamaica, and Jamaica Estates. This runs from 130th St to 178th St east-to-west, and Grand Central Parkway at the north to Jamaica Avenue at the south. The coverage we're going to see over the next few days is by no means exhaustive -- the stores I've photographed represent only a fraction of the supermarkets in this densely populated, urban neighborhood. But we will be seeing a selection of nine supermarkets, mostly along Hillside Avenue, the main thoroughfare through Jamaica. Our first post is tomorrow on The Independent Edition !

Aron's Kissena Farms Opened: 2009 Owner: Aron Hirtz Previous Tenants:  Kissena Farms Cooperative: none Location: 72-15 Kissena Blvd, Queens, NY Photographed:  September 16, 2025 Before we begin, just a heads up: this was originally posted in February 2020, but was rewritten with new photos in June 2026. Now for the post! Welcome to Aron's Kissena Farms, a kosher supermarket in the Pomonok section of Fresh Meadows, and when I say it's next door to the nearby Key Food , I mean literally the two parking lots share a side. Key Food has virtually no kosher offerings, though, so there's room for both. This store, although it's an old building, is a bit newer inside and somewhat spiffier than the raggedy-but-packed-full Key Food. With its various expansions over the years, this store clocks in at around 20,000 square feet, or around 10,000 square feet smaller than the Key Food. The spaciousness inside makes it feel larger than it is, though. You enter to produce at the...