Top photo from the collection of EVG; all others by Stacie Joy
If you've been inside Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street in recent days, then you likely noticed some changes... especially on aisle 2, where the non-dairy milk brands moved across the aisle and now featuring seemingly more varieties...
Meanwhile, the apple sauce randomly took over the former nut milk space on the shelf in aisle 2.
Anyway, Key Food sources tell EVG contributor Stacie Joy that this is JUST the beginning of a renovation that will see some significant changes in how you navigate the aisles.
Here's what we know so far.
Remember the bulk paper towels randomly placed atop the freezer section in aisle 1?
MOVED!
AISLE 2!
And as if aisle 2 could hold any more new items, crackers and cookies are here now too...
There are other shelving switcheroos underway that we have yet to track...
Arguably the biggest change is coming to aisle 1... and the freezer section (ice cream, pizza, etc.)
Key Food sources tell us that the freezers are being moved AWAY from aisle 1, which will eventually feature an expanded produce area. Also gone from this aisle: those random middle tables offering up potatoes and onions and stuff.
It's not immediately clear where the aisle 1 freezers will go. (Our source didn't even know.) Many things are being moved, added, subtracted.
All work is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving. No word yet if any of these moves will necessitate altering the grocery's 24/7 schedule.
To be continued...
respectfully suggest that the apple sauce treat the nut milk shelf as a rest stop and find its way to a nice, comfortable seat next to the pork chops.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would just put prices on stuff and better self check out machines, rarely go without having to ask for help with out machine saying Please place in bagging area. Store has went way down
ReplyDeleteYes and take down the sale signs down when there no longer on sale instead of just leaving them up and let you still think there on sale when they aren’t
DeleteNow, all that Key Food needs to do is train their employees to be customer-service oriented and without having attitudes towards the customers. Key Food should also implement a ticket system at the Deli Counter. Let's see if Key Food trains their staff properly.
ReplyDeletePoor customer service says "we don't care if you shop here." Customer Service Is critical! Dissatisfied customers will tell between nine to 15 people about their experience - and about 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people about their poor experience according to the Office of Consumer Affairs.
Bah. People should have to work for their toilet paper. Toilet paper doesn't grow on trees, you know.
ReplyDeleteI heart EV Grieve.
ReplyDelete7:18 the workers are friendly not management
ReplyDeleteFFS, it's taken me about ten years to figure out where everything is - cookies on 2 different aisles, very far away from each other, vegetarian canned soup nowhere near soup aisle, hummus on both sides of the store, etc - and now it's all moved! I hope they post a map at the door.
ReplyDeleteSince Key Food seems to be upgrading their store. Key Food should also address all of the YELP reviews if they want to do a complete OVERHAUL!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yelp.com/biz/key-food-supermarket-new-york-2?osq=key%20food&sort_by=rating_asc
This is the journalism I need. Never change, EVGrieve <3
ReplyDeleteOkay, Stacey, your next visit should be to . . . the supermarket on Avenue D and 6th (Food Emporium?) for comparison. Now that is a maze I cant figure out.
ReplyDeleteFURTHER BULLETINS AS EVENTS WARRANT.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update!
ReplyDeleteI personally chose Key Food over Trader Joes.(less crowded, more authentic).
I always run into someone interesting and staff always help me with the automatic machine ( difficult to find the right product).
Side note: I love when the machine yells at you :" remove your potatoes in the shopping cart area " I always think that one day the voice will tell me to get lost.
Love it!
I am telling you.
Authentic.
Plus it's on my way from my ukulele class from Rivington Guitars.
And at 9pm, there is no one there!
I missed what was in aisle 7 'cause I swear, I was never in there!
ReplyDeleteTrader Joes is corporate cultism.
ReplyDeleteEVGrieve with the News You Can Use.
ReplyDeleteMoving the tables out of the produce/some-but-not-all-frozen-foods aisle will help a lot; that aisle is traffic jam central. And yes, their self-checkout suuuuuuuuuucks (I want to hate on Whole Foods, really, but their sale prices on produce — non limp, non mealy, good fresh produce — are better than any other store in the nabe, and their self-checkout is efficient and logical and non- PLACE ITEMS IN THE BAGGING AREA-screaming). I find the staff at Key to be OK when you actually can use a register staffed by a human, but they're clearly attempting to replace most of the humans.
Do a Met Foods (Family Supermarket? What are they called now? The Second Ave folks) post! They're really nice, I've found, but don't have anywhere near the selection of Key or WF.
Make it bigger!! Second story. They have air rights right
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to the changes in the produce aisle and hope that it includes the reduction of so much plastic. My Brussel sprouts don't need to be sealed onto a plastic tray like hans solo in carbonite.
ReplyDeleteAnd if someone could tell MasterCard that "debit card" and "mastercard debit card" are the same damn thing, that would be great.
Stay tuned for my next rant in 5, 4, 3....
Great news. I love seeing changes being made so we will have a better shopping experience.
ReplyDelete@Marjorie:
ReplyDeleteNew Yorkers Foodmarket is not any better either. New Yorkers Foodmarket also has customer service issues which I experienced and no longer shop there. The ownership is very rude. I would never sign their petition again. I made that mistake the last time they did that.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/new-yorkers-foodmarket-new-york?sort_by=rating_asc
Was just there for the first time since they started moving things. When to aisle 2 for some organic stuff and found candy instead. Just figured it was a sign, so i bought some chocolate, lol. Never did find the organic thing I went for... Thank you e.v. grieve for the backstory 😅 Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI am finally a Trader Joe’s person … and it is bc it is so much more affordable and very good quality ! Organic chicken / fish / dairy etc ….. I went to the super market on 8th and C and it was $6.49 for half and half! Same size is 1.99 at Trader’s. Now sure why anyone would go there beyond expensive
ReplyDeleteWonder if they're going to rearrange the secret aisle 13 that appears only once a month and only to certain people. Or am I not supposed to mention that?
ReplyDeleteShop Fair 4ever
ReplyDeleteIt's chaos all over town! Key Food is being overhauled throughout the 5 boros. Remember when we almost starved when Leschko's closed? Same!
ReplyDeleteThere's also a corporate-wide change coming where one's current customer reward card has to be updated soon and they ask for a postal address, email address and cell number so that they can data mine. Big Brother is watching. I'm not sure what they will do if one refuses such info.
ReplyDeletewho cares. keyfood rips people off by placing "on sale" signs and not honoring the price by saying the one you choose isn't included in the sale, not putting correct price labels on the shelves or pricing each item (they're supposed to BY LAW), then not apologizing or turning it around so it's your fault when it's not. why doesn't someone write about that?
ReplyDeleteNo amount of major revamping of Key Food will help if the cashiers and customer service are RUDE to the customers. Some employees (not all employees) need re-training on how to deal with customers politely. Employees also need to be familiar with the ins and outs of the store in order to help the customers.
ReplyDeleteWegmans at Astor Place can't come soon enough!
ReplyDeleteAt Key Food, I once had a situation where three employees couldn't figure out what the exact pricing of an item was when it was priced one way on the shelf and the cashier rung it up differently (and one of the employees was a Manager). It's not a difficult task. As a result, when a customer's products are rung up, they should pay close attention to ensure they are charged the exact price. Employees, including managers, require extensive training.
To October 3, 2021 at 11:17 AM
ReplyDeleteI experienced the same issue with Key Food too. I can't understand why they couldn't figure it out, so I ended up not buying the item!
Does anybody know what type of training Key Food provides its employees?
ReplyDelete