Scratch that: The random songs of the 80s and 90s return to Key Food

Reporting by Stacie Joy 

The static-y-sounding versions of the delightfully eclectic hits from the 1980s and 1990s are back at Key Food.

This past week, reader reports came in that the soundtrack of our shopping lives returned to the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street after a 13-day hiatus. (This marked the second time the music died here in three months.)

However, it sounded as if you were listening to, say, Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You" on a radio with abysmal reception.

According to store manager Richie Gaitan, while the music is back, it does not sound great as the store waits for a part to arrive for its PA system. In addition, the in-store intercom system is still not working, so you won't hear them calling for Ralph in produce or someone to "look at the broken recyclables machines" outside. 

There is no estimate on the music repair date; it will be "when the part comes in...soon, I hope." 

In the interim — classic Halloween decor is up for your enjoyment.

P.S. 

During the research of this post, I heard in order: 

• Level 42's "Lessons in Love" 

• Men without Hats' "The Safety Dance" 

• Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms"

The silence of the lamb chops: Key Food's sound system takes another break

Reporting by Stacie Joy

For the past week or more, the gloriously random songs from the 1980s and 1990s have sounded scratchy at Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street. 

It was scratchy, not in a remixed way, but rather like the PA system needed repairs. It was very noticeable.

Howard Jones, Mike + the Mechanics and Glass Tiger never sounded so bad. (Really.) 

And last night, there was just silence, like in August when the PA system went down. 

According to nighttime co-manager Nigel Swift (below), the machine that supplies the music and the intercom is again broken.

A new part is on order and they hope to have it repaired in less than a week. 

In the interim, enjoy "Songs in the Key of Silence."

Summer ends on a positive note as the shopping soundtrack of our lives returns to Key Food

After nearly three weeks' worth of deathly silence in the aisles of Key Food, we heard the familiar strains of Janet Jackson's "Control" upon entering the grocery at the start of the Labor Day weekend... from her third studio album of the same name (1986). 

Hop to it 

I'm in control, and I love it, hahaha, that's right 

Control

Now I've got a lot 

Control

As previously reported, the PA system at the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street went kaput (paraphrasing), and management needs to wait for a part to arrive to jumpstart the music and the directives for store personnel (Richie, line two, please). 

The store is open 24/7, and you'll always hear some random song from your deep past booming from the PA above.

Why you'll be shopping at Key Food on Avenue A without hearing a random song from the 1980s

EVG archival photo 

Reporting and videos by Stacie Joy

Shopping at Key Food has changed this past week since The Day the Music Died on Aug. 12. 

The PA system at the grocery on Avenue A and Fourth Street is out of order. 

For shoppers, you won't hear the store's playlist heavy on fringe-y late 1980s alternative hits and some other 1990s chestnuts. (I hear you, Paula Cole — and I Don't Want to Wait!) 

Aside from the music, the in-house intercom system is also down. So, you won't be interrupted by commands from above for Richie to pick up line 2 or calls about a delivery for the meat department.

Co-manager Dennis Acuna explained that technicians came to fix the intercom and music box (one controller unit for both systems) and found they needed to order a part for the repair. They hope the replacement part arrives soon so the system can be pumping out Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" and Stevie Nicks' "Rooms on Fire" SOON.

In the meantime, there is just deafening silence in the aisles.

   

"Imagine, you are [in the grocery] only for a little time," Acuna said. "We are here all the time — we miss it too." 

I spoke with a few staffers, some of whom were relieved the music was off temporarily, "It's kind of a relief; it's not as intense in here," said one cashier. Another employee said he missed stocking the shelves to music. 

For now, the only sounds are the moans of the Key Food ghosts, the relentless "please place the last scanned item on the scale" message at the self-checkouts, and the echoes of cases of White Claw being boosted.

 

UPDATED: Key Food closes in-store deli over Boar’s Head meats listeria scare and nationwide recall

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated 7/31: The deli has reopened. See photo below

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Out of an abundance of caution, Key Food has closed its deli counter for deep cleaning and sanitizing after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) expanded the nationwide recall of the ready-to-eat liverwurst and other deli meat products made by Boar's Head — specifically at its Jarratt, Va. facility.

ABC 7 reports that the company distributed the meat to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama.

Per FSIS, these products "may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes."

The expanded recall now includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 under the Boar's Head and Old Country brand names.

Recalled products include (in the all-cap style of the FSIS) EXTRA HOT ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM, STEAKHOUSE ROASTED BACON HEAT & EAT, and GARLIC BOLOGNA. 

If you inexplicably bought any of these items, this government release has details on dates and product packaging. 

Per the release: 

Consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects people who are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or with weakened immune systems. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected. 

Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Key Food management has "removed and discarded all recalled items and anything potentially exposed to those recalled items." 

The deli will reopen after the deep clean. 

Updated 7/31

Back open...
 

Thursday's parting shot

This morning on Avenue A and Fourth Street ... happy 4th.

Monday's parting shot

Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers shared this photo from early this morning, taken from Avenue A and Fourth Street, showing a "fantastic conjunction of the Crescent Moon and Mars about 4 degrees apart in the pre-dawn glow of Key Foods."

Felton did say he touched up a faint-looking Mars a bit and tweaked the contrast to show some detail on the surface of the Moon, though Key Foods remained untouched!

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo by William Klayer 

In case a trip to Key Food was in your plans overnight... the grocery on Avenue A at Fourth Street will be closed from 1-4 a.m. for a "software update," presumably replacing all the store's 2400-baud modems. 

Hopefully, it won't impact Key's rather forgotten but appreciated mid-to-late-80s music playlist. (We heard T'Pau's "Heart and Soul" the other day.)

Noted

For anyone keeping tabs on how many different Key Food aisles this Scotch® Magic™ Tape display has been on... we've spotted it by the cereal, chips and detergent.

Sunday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A happy St. Patrick's Day to those who celebrate and/or enjoy moving the jointed arms on the decorations at Key Food.

A familiar face returns to Key Food

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

We were surprised to see a familiar employee face this week at Key Food. 

After a year of partial retirement, Arrman Mohammed returned to the supermarket on Avenue A and Fourth Street. 

Mohammed, a manager at Key Food, retired last April 29 after a 35-plus year career with the company, the last 10 in the East Village. (He started at Key Food in 1986 as a teenager on Long Island.) 

He said he "got bored of Florida and missed the excitement of NYC and decided to return to the place I know and the people I know." 

Now an NYC resident again, Mohammed is at 52 Avenue A until tomorrow before he heads to the Astoria Key Food on Newtown Avenue. 

He said he'll be back and forth at different stores but will return to the Avenue A location in two weeks. 

Mohammed doesn't have a direct answer about whether he'll be back permanently, offering with a smile: "Perhaps. I go where I am needed."

Today in discarded finds of the century on 2nd Street

Inexplicably (for now!) discarded (for now!) this afternoon outside 75 E. Second St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

Does anyone have a spare U-Haul? 

(And thanks to EVG reader Camille Coric for the photo!)

Saturday's opening shot

An early morning Porky drop for Key Food on Avenue A at Fourth Street...

Key Food would like you to use a basket or cart

Photos by Stacie Joy 

If you've been in Key Food on Avenue A at Fourth Street in recent days, then you've likely noticed an abundance of signage asking patrons to please use the baskets and carts provided...

... and NOT your personal carry-on or reusable bags...

Key management says these new signs are to "passively deter shoplifting." And the signs are definitely more passive than this move to stop a shoplifter at Key.

Noted

Photo by Stacie Joy

Fall arrived at Key Food on Avenue A this past week... just one sign of the Halloween season around the grocery.  (And why would someone with straw hair smoke a pipe?)

Late night at Key Food

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Key Food returned to a 24/7 schedule last October after shortened hours during the pandemic. 

Ownership — the Mandell family operates this location as well as the Key Food outposts in Park Slope and Astoria, part of the Key Food Stores Co-Operative — invited me into the grocery during the overnight hours... and even provided an all-access tour of the space. 

Aside from knowing EVG's affinity for the grocery (for better or worse!), the store on Avenue A and Fourth Street is trying to encourage people to shop between midnight and 6 a.m. and has a promo through July 27 — $5 off a purchase of $50 or more.

While I didn't receive a laminated all-access badge, I did have a tour guide in Dwyane "Petie" Reddy, who has worked for Key Food since 1987 — starting at the Queens store, and here for the past seven years ...

Also on duty this night — store manager Richie Gaitan, who has also been with Key Food since 1987...

...and away we went ... here are some behind-the-scenes scenes ... away from what shoppers might see... the place is a lot bigger than you might think at first glance rounding aisle 1...

A few things I learned... the ready-to-eat salads and prepared meals you see when you enter Key are made in-house. (The sushi is delivered each day from an outside vendor.) The meat department is staffed daily as well...

Key Food management also showed off a new employees-only T-shirt design (and I pitched them on making merch for the store because we'd buy this)...

And some Key trivia — these 24-packs of Poland Spring water are the store's top-selling product. (I'm told this is a loss-leader item)...

Richie's (iconic?) yellow sale signs and other various notices that are everywhere are designed and printed in-house...

And there's a reason for the seemingly never-ending supply of Keebler Export Sodas canisters and those 18-pound bags of wild bird food by the exit — they are big sellers...

We also cracked the mystery of the store music, often heavy on the semi-forgotten and/or guilty pleasure hits from the mid-to-late 1980s (from Level 42 to Glass Tiger to Mike + the Mechanics). 

However, my editor is making me save this scoop for another post so he can list all the random songs he's heard while shopping at Key. 

Speaking of shopping, the overnight hours proved to be a good time to knock this errand off your to-do list ... if it fits into your schedule. 

A familiar face is leaving Key Food

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Arrman Mohammed, a manager at Key Food on Avenue A who always seems to be there when we are, is (semi) retiring. His last day here is on Saturday, April 29.

He started at Key Food in 1986 as a teenager on Long Island. He said he walked in, asked for an after-school job, and was given one in the deli. 

Mohammed, now 56, has worked at Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan locations for 35-plus years. He has been at the Avenue A store for the past decade.

He will enjoy not working for now, saying he would "take my alarm clock, put it under my feet, and crush it. No more waking up at 4:30 in the morning." 

Upcoming plans include spending time with his 28-year-old son... before a move to Florida, where he hopes to take up a position with another Key Food. (Florida has 50-plus Key Food stores in the state.) 

Mohammed encourages people to stop by and say goodbye this week before he clocks out one last time ...