Grocery Archaeology

Original Tenant:  Safeway Address:  1933 Victory Blvd, Castleton Corners, Staten Island, NY Opened:  1950s Closed:  early 1960s Later Tenants:  Finast > Super X > Revco > CVS Photographed:  March 2020 This building was built as a Safeway and later sold to Finast. JoshAustin610 has more details on the drugstore history of the building here . It's an early prototype of the Marina style , and a similar variation we can see in Atlantic Highlands, NJ . Today, the front wall, which would've been entirely glass, has been bricked over. Inside, the A-frame roof remains exposed, although there are is a drop ceiling at the angle. The approximately 14,000 square foot building makes for a very large CVS. We can see some of the windows still exposed on the front wall.

Original Tenant: Waldbaum's Address:  778 Manor Rd, Staten Island, NY Opened:  ca. 1960 Closed:  2007 Later Tenants:  King Kullen (2007-2009) Photographed:  March 2020 This building, a bit west along the Staten Island Expressway from Olive Tree , is actually two floors, with both floors being taken up originally by Waldbaum's. The lower (basement) level, which ends up being ground level on the side of the building and was originally the backroom, later became a CVS. King Kullen bought this Waldbaum's in 2007 before closing in 2009. At that time, after extensive renovations, CVS moved into the top floor around 2010. Queens, NY-based Fresh n Save Marketplace, a Key Food affiliate, moved into the rather dingy basement and equipped it nicely for a brand-new supermarket. Although Fresh n Save didn't last, a Key Food operator moved in, eventually selling to a CTown operator that closed and was replaced by the third SuperFresh on Staten Island. I...

Original Tenant:  A&P Address:  375 Tompkins Ave, Rosebank, Staten Island, NY Opened:  1960s Closed:  1990s Later Tenants:  Waldbaums (1990s-2015), Food Universe Marketplace (2016-2018), Freshway Supermarket (2018-2019) Photographed:  March 2020 This location was a longtime A&P that was converted to Waldbaum's by the 1990s before closing early in the 2015-16 bankrupcty. New Jersey-based operator Kevin Kim (oh boy, do we know him -- from Fairview , Plainsboro , and Belleville ). This store as a Food Universe actually seemed to do okay. It even got some nice renovations . But of course, after just about two years, it was converted to the Freshway banner and switched from Key Food to General Trading/Retail Grocers Group. The "win a car" sweepstakes from Plainsboro's grand opening never finished because the store closed before the contest ended, so that was transferred to this location. In fact, in this picture you can see the ban...

Our next stop after leaving Brooklyn is Staten Island! Now we have been to Staten Island before, seeing a  Key Food Marketplace , a  Superfresh  that has since closed, and a  Met Foodmarket . But, we all know... NOPE, NO CHEESY SONG GIMMICK HERE. You'll have to go to The Market Report to see it.   Ahem, we know that we can do better. Anyway, we're going to tour EIGHT new supermarkets, see a NEW Superfresh, and RETURN to that Met Foodmarket for a full interior tour! Uh... maybe no one else is as excited about that as I am. But anyway, stay tuned for two weeks of Staten Island.

Original Tenant:  unknown Address:  4102 Church Ave, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Rite Aid Photographed:  May 2019 Okay, so the last time I did this I was just plain ol' wrong. But I saw this building directly across the street from yesterday's Shop Fair  and, well... I had a feeling about it. Doesn't it just look like an old Scaturro Supermarket? Or something like that? You know those various pop songs that talk about love at first sight? With lyrics saying things like "I knew as soon as he/she walked into the room" and other such nonsense. Well, I'd love to write that song about seeing a building and just having a feeling it's a former supermarket. Unlike the Avenue D location, I'm pretty sure I'm right about this one. Anyway, any Brooklynites out there who can confirm my suspicions?