We haven't been by in about a month for some reason. (Been hitting Met Foods and Associated and Fine Fare... oh, and Food Emporium once recently...)
One reader emailed us with the following: "Had a trip to Key Foods ... and literally did not know where I was. A complete transformation ... Tons of fresh food, beautifully arranged – they should really have a grand re-opening."
We took a look.
And the beer is now near the front by the office. Didn't look to see if they raised the price of Pabst to help pay for the renovations...
ugh.l stock has changed, too
ReplyDeleteThe beer in the front is a clever ploy, ain't it?
Prices... up up up
The Key Food house brand ice cream is addictive. It's almost as good as Bryers and 1/2 the price. I would not be surprised if the ice cream was manufactured at the same plant.
ReplyDeletebut does it still smell like dead vampires?
ReplyDeletethe one annoying thing is that a lot of the produce is now weighed and packaged by the store rather than you picking your own.. so say I need 1 parsnip for a recipe, I must buy a bag or tray prepared by them with 4 or 5 in it. Same thing with all of the hot peppers except for jalepenos... who needs 10 haberneros?!
ReplyDelete@glamma
ReplyDeleteYes
To people in the 3rd world these pictures are a kind of pornography - we americans take so much for granted -
ReplyDeleteHadn't noticed the dead vampire smell since they ripped out the old beer section. I have noticed fewer specials on fruit, which is a bummer, so I'm probably spending a lot less there now, though on the upside, at least the produce is now neatly organized and no longer visibly rotten.
ReplyDeleteJust went in yesterday, my how far they've come since the "hurricane" days.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Key Food!
Looks like a nice beer selection and I love the smell of dead vampires in the morning, so I must stop by soon!
ReplyDeleteDead vampires are still rotting in the far corner. However, it's all much improved. Prices on the things I buy haven't changed.
ReplyDeleteOne complaint is there are some frozen items at each end of the store, so I have to look in both places for, say pizza and vegetables, when they should be grouped together.
Also, the check stands...they are trying to encourage people to bag their own groceries, but when it's busy, that just jams up everything. Bring back the cashiers.
I live across the street and its been a life changer to have a half decent supermarket with meats and produce that are fresh and editable with some selection of organic items for purchase. Its closer (for me) and stays open longer than Essex Market and is a real option for putting together a meal each day without having to scramble around the neighborhood or city to find decent fresh unprocessed food.
ReplyDeleteIn most grocery sores, "checkers" are not "baggers"; (two different people working simultaneously). I can't see how you putting stuff in a bag while the checker is busy doing the checking would be slower than waiting for the checker to finish checking, and then for them to start bagging your goods.
ReplyDeleteWhat Goggla said. I really hate the robot checkout counters. I refuse to participate in this attempt to do away with union workers (they're a UFCW shop -- or so a sign says in the back -- though I've noticed similar auto-checkouts put in at CVSes of late). I'll wait twenty minutes for the lone human checker/bagger on duty sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIf you'll wait "twenty minutes", then you're the robot.
ReplyDeletedead vampires. i always thought it was wet dog. but on a recent trip, the smell was gone. and thankfully so.
ReplyDeleteI still smell dead bloody vampire in the South-East corner.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't eat, I'll spend all my money om beer. Do they have the Zywiec Porter?
ReplyDeleteI approve! Not so sure about the yellow bags though.
ReplyDeleteBUT will they stock 40's all summer?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt! I also only check out with the human cashiers, even if there's a long line. I wouldn't want to be replaced by a machine and neither do they.
ReplyDeleteI went there over Passover/Easter weekend, and I was astonished at the change--overall, in a good way. I agree that the new frozen/dairy/whatever area is a little confusing, as I'm used to getting my frozen stuff from that old aisle (which only seems to fit like half of a cart no matter how wide the aisle is, for some reason). However, when I ventured over to the renovated area, it was great. There's an expanded selection, and the two guys who were stocking in that area could not have been nicer. I didn't notice any huge increases in price, but compared to a place like Food Emporium, a Key Food price increase would still make their stuff a bargain.
ReplyDeleteI moved out of the EV last November after 20 yrs and Key Food is one of the very few things I miss from the neighborhood...
ReplyDeleteI cannot think the words Key Food without hearing the KERCHUNK KERCHUNK of my Aunt Phyllis' grocery cart being dragged up the stairs to her 3rd floor walkup after her weekly visit to Key Food (in Queens).
ReplyDeleteAwful, awful...the produce is still a disaster, just a different sort of disaster. Still hard to get a fresh head of lettuce...Still impossible to buy a box of strawberries that isn't on the verge of rotting. And wrapping everything in plastic--what is this, in the 1970s? Nobody who works there really cares about the quality--and I would never risk my health by buying fresh fish there...
ReplyDelete