Food City coming to Avenue D

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Workers are stocking shelves for Food City, a new supermarket to open this spring at 85 Avenue D between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...

Not sure at the moment if this Food City is any relation to the longtime shop that closed on the UWS in 2013. 

This space was previously a Rite Aid, which closed late last spring. Avenue D could use another grocer after Uncle Johnny closed in February 2022 at Fifth Street last year to make way for a new 13-floor development. 

Food City will be just steps away from the Food Emporium on the SW corner of Avenue D and Sixth Street...

Season's Supermarket Greetings

Photos by Stacie Joy 

While out and about this holiday season, EVG contributor Stacie Joy starting keeping tabs on the neighborhood's grocery stores (such as Associated on Avenue C above) to see how the markets were decorating for the season. 

Many places were on the bah-humbug-y side, perhaps with just a few cashier-area holiday tinsel-y ornaments. 

These were the groceries putting in the holiday décor effort, starting with Pioneer/Met Fresh on Avenue D between Eighth Street and Ninth Street ...

... Union Market on Houston and Avenue A...

... H-Mart on Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street ...

...New Yorkers Food Market on Second Avenue between Seventh Street and Sixth Street...

... Whole Foods Market® Bowery ...

... and the clear winner in the grocery holiday games — Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street,

Key was also the only shop with any Hanukkah signage and opting for the traditional Chanukah spelling...

Please note that Key closes at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve (tomorrow) and will be closed all day on Christmas. So plan ahead. (Sidenote: We finally found where they stock the mustard now — aisle 1, which doesn't make sense, after the Great Key Reorganization. Stayed tuned for the next investigative series on mustard presentation.)

Report: Target will replace the Food Emporium in Union Square — in 2023

[EVG photo from 2015]

ICYMI: Lois Weiss at the Post yesterday reported that Target is taking over the Food Emporium space at 10 Union Square East in the base of the Zeckendorf Towers. However, the takeover won't happen until 2023.

Per Weiss:

While Target has just signed a lease for 32,579 square feet at 10 Union Square East, the space is still occupied by the Food Emporium until the end of April in 2023.

Despite the wait, sources said Target wanted to lock in the location along East 14th Street. The nearly 16-year lease had an asking rent of $183 per square foot.

In December 2015, Key Food acquired the Food Emporium banner name and related intellectual property assets, per published reports.

This will mark the departure of yet another traditional grocery store in the area. Associated closed on 14th Street in Stuy Town in December, a location very close to the Target that opened in July 2018.

Met Fresh now open on Avenue D

The Met Fresh Supermarket opened Saturday at 119 Avenue D between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.

Met Fresh is part of the Associated Supermarket Group, whose brands include Associated, Compare, Met Fresh, Met Foodmarkets, Pioneer and Gourmet a'Fare.

Anyway, here's a look at the store... the produce looks pretty solid... there's also a small deli counter...







The cereal selection is fairly limited ... most of the Kellogg's brands are represented ...





They also carry the Avenue A brand of products (exclusive to the Associated Supermarket Group) ... like the seltzer water (four for $3)...



There are grand-opening sales, like, four 10-ounce packs of Café Bustelo for $10 and two boxes of Kellogg's Raisin Bran (13.7 ounces) for $4. Oh, and these are 10 for $5...



Lastly, they don't have any beer just yet. A worker said it will be another month before it arrives. THEN maybe we can do an all-important price comparison!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Met Fresh Supermarket announces itself on Avenue D

Met Fresh Supermarket announces itself on Avenue D

The coming-soon signage is up for Met Fresh Supermarket outside 119 Avenue D between Eighth Street and Ninth Street ...



Met Fresh is part of the Associated Supermarket Group, "a consortium that helps small supermarkets buy in bulk," per Crain's. The store brands of the group include Associated, Compare, Met Fresh, Met Foodmarkets, Pioneer and Gourmet a'Fare.

Not sure what type of products this Met Fresh location will sell. (The renovated Met Fresh in Bay Ridge includes a beer cave with microbrews.)

The work permits on file with the city originally listed Bravo Supermarkets as the incoming tenant.

Avenue D is currently served by Uncle Johnny Grocery and Compare Foods as well as several delis ... not to mention a Rite Aid and Duane Reade.

The previous tenant at No. 119, the All in One Value Center, closed last fall.

Bravo Supermarkets coming to Avenue D

The build-out continues at 119 Avenue D between Eighth Street and Ninth Street ... and it's starting to look a lot like a grocery store...



The work permits on file with the city list Bravo Supermarkets as the incoming tenant. The New York-based Bravo has more than 70 locations in the northeast (with nearly a dozen in Brooklyn and Queens) as well as in Florida.

Per the Bravo website:

Bravo Supermarkets are neighborhood grocery stores that your family can depend on! Because all of our stores are independently owned and operated, we have the unique ability to truly cater to the needs of our communities, which is why no two Bravo Supermarkets are exactly alike! At Bravo you'll find the products that are meant for the people who live in the neighborhood- stocked with a large assortment of specialty and international products, fresh meat, seafood, produce and so much more!

No word on an opening date just yet.

Avenue D is currently served by Uncle Johnny Grocery and Compare Foods as well as several delis.

The previous tenant at No. 119, the All in One Value Center, closed last fall.

Where donuts were once served, a grocery store opens

From the Department of That Was Really *&%$##@@* Fast... The corpse of Dunkin' Donuts is still warm and, possibly, a little glazey...and on Second Avenue, the first of the two shops have opened in DD's old space... a deli/grocery...




Jeremiah first had the news of DD's split future... Meanwhile, some folks are still in mourning... from Let's Do This Instead (via Eater):

It would sound strange that I’d think the biggest loss in the East Village would be a Dunkie’s. But the one on Second Ave. between 10th and 11th was one of the nicest neighborhood amenities ever. Where else could you sit on the sidewalk with free wifi, or at a counter by their picture windows in winter, and look out onto one of the oldest buildings in New York City, St. Mark’s Church (built in 1799, and just imagine everything it has seen grow up around it for over two centuries).

Previously on EV Grieve:
Dunkin' Donuts closes on Second Avenue; only 428 left in NYC

Dunkin' Donuts Week in Review

New wave!

An ad from Wednesday's Post.



The new wave of markerting...?

And previously.

Met Food lives

Good news from Scoopy's Notebook this week: "Met Food supermarket on Second Ave. and New York University have finally settled on a lease that will allow the market to keep serving the East Village customers who depend upon it and championed its cause so fiercely." (The Villager)



Now, perhaps, can they take down the sale sign for clam shell salads? I took this photo Aug. 30. And the sign was still up the last time I walked by...

The grocery stores of Saint James Place

There's one stretch of the city downtown refreshingly free of Whole Foods...or Gardens of Edens...or Gourmet Garages...or...

The C Town at 5 St. James Place has a 1970s suburban feel to the exterior. Meanwhile, about 100 yards north, there's Peter's grocery store at 25 Madison Street on the corner of St. James Place.



A great sign.



And I love the corner angle.