The Independent Edition

From here on, The Market Report , The Independent Edition, and  Grocery Archaeology  will be posting stores entirely geographically. I'm switching to this instead of the random kind of chronological kind of not order I had done previously based on the themed weeks I've had. I hope it'll be easier to read! To begin with, for the new year, we're going to Queens, NY! And I don't think we've ever been there. So all of the stores we're about to see are brand-new. We'll be taking a look at them a few neighborhoods at a time, starting in the northwestern corner of the borough, with Long Island City, Jackson Heights, and Corona. This group will have posts on The Market Report and The Independent Edition. Come back on January 1st for our first store tour!

Bleecker Farm Owner:  Kyong S Lee Opened:  1996 Cooperative:  none Location:  272 Bleecker St, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  August 2018 There are actually very few of these remaining in Manhattan, variously called greengrocers, Korean grocers, produce stores, and so on. But the Bleecker Farm holds on. It features grocery/dairy, flowers, produce, and a deli. This particular location is in the southern part of Greenwich Village.

Brooklyn Fare Owner:  Moe Issa Opened:  2016 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  666 Greenwich St, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  August 2018 A few blocks down from the D'Agostino we saw yesterday on The Market Report is this Key Food-affiliated store. Brooklyn Fare has three locations, one in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan. While it's no less expensive than the D'Agostino (and maybe more expensive), it's just a far superior store. The store is larger, for one, meaning its selection is better, but the quality is also undoubtedly better.

Murray Hill Market Owner:  unknown Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  136 E 34th St, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  February 2018 This 24-hour grocery/deli is also in the immediate vicinity of the United Nations, but just south of it rather than the Gristedes north of it. It's located at the corner of 34th St and Lexington Ave and is one of the ubiquitous corner deli-groceries that dot all five boroughs of the city.

Terra Market Owner:  unknown Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  533 9th Ave, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  August 2018 Highly observant readers will notice that, in fact, this store is only two doors down from the Big Apple Meat Market which we saw earlier today! This one appears to be smaller and produce focused, while Big Apple is meat, dairy, and frozen. (They do, however, sell produce, and both stores sell groceries.)

Big Apple Meat Market Owner:  Peter Castellana III / Cactus Holdings Opened:  1992, 2013 in current location Cooperative:  none Location:  529 9th Ave, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  August 2018 Owned by the same folks who own the Western Beef chain, the Big Apple Meat Market in the Garment District is the type of quirky small business that seems to be rapidly disappearing. The New York Times, in fact, did a feature on the store before it moved to its present location. I would definitely check out that article for a really interesting look into this business! Other note - we're doubling up today, so we'll be seeing another store today at noon here on The Independent Edition!

Ozzie's Fresh Market Owner:  Felipe Fernandez Opened:  1999 (as Associated Supermarkets) Cooperative:  Associated Supermarket Group Location:  592 Fort Washington Ave, Manhattan, NY Photographed:  November 2018 Contributor:  Steve M. Formerly branded Associated Supermarkets, this location in the northern end of Manhattan is now Ozzie's Fresh Market (note the Associated logo remaining on the right side of the storefront). The Associated was scheduled to be replaced by Walgreens, but after an enormous backlash , the property owners agreed to let Associated stay on the condition that they'd remodel the store. Contributor Steve M. brings us a nighttime look at this nicely illuminated store. There is a second Ozzie's (also a former Associated), which operates with Key Food's Food Universe Marketplace banner, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. I can't help but wonder whether this location will also be switched over to Food Universe soon...

Farm Country Supermarkets Owner:  Dae Kun Yoo Opened:  1995 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  2205 Linden Blvd, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  July 2018 Bad alignment with this photo here. Far Country! I promise you there is an M under the light. Today's store tour is this supermarket in East New York right on the main thoroughfare, Linden Boulevard. It's clearly been a supermarket for many, many years (in fact, the "front" of the store , or the side that faces Linden, may be an extensively renovated former A&P, though I kind of doubt it), but Farm Country has set up shop here and turned it into an enormous warehouse store with every type of African and Caribbean grocery item you could imagine. There is a large parking lot in the back. This Farm Country joins a few other locations run by the same group: Farm Country - 234-21 Merrick Blvd, Rosedale, NY Farm Country - 2076 1st Ave, Manhattan, NY Shop Fair - 160 E 110th St, M...

Tio Grocery Owner:  Pascual Melo Opened:  2008 Cooperative:  none Location:  1288 Herkimer St, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  July 2018 Another small bodega today, this one is just north of Atlantic Avenue (a major east-west artery through Brooklyn) at the corner of Rockaway Avenue (a north-south artery) and Herkimer Street. It's generally somewhere between the southern part of Bushwick and the northern part of Brownsville. It's easiest to just call this "East New York," but I think we're going to go with Bushwick. Anywho, the only reason I photographed the store is because I was moderately amused by "breadfast" (instead of "breakfast") on the store awning. Yeah, that's it. Yep, that's what I'm passing off as a post for today. But that's our last small store or bodega for several weeks now! All supermarkets here and on The Market Report going forward.

Mr. Mango's Food Market Owner:  Fausto Rodriguez Opened:  2015-2018 Cooperative:  none Location:  112 Rockaway Ave, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  July 2018 Looks like Mr. Mango suffered from some pretty bad fire damage, and it doesn't look like the store has actually reopened despite the "we'll be back soon!" banner on the front. I usually don't photograph bodegas like this, but this one caught my eye because it's such a blatant ripoff of the KiCoPi Group stores (see here and here ) and in fact, KiCoPi does operate a Mr. Mango across Brooklyn in the Clinton Hill section. That's about all for today, come back tomorrow for more!

Food Story Natural Market Owner:  unknown Opened:  2018 Cooperative:  none Location:  1552 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  July 2018 Food Story Natural Market has set up shop here along Myrtle Avenue, in a location two blocks east of Sea Town and with one Food Bazaar a block to the east and a second one block to the north. (We'll be touring the east one tomorrow on The Market Report !) Believe it or not, their space is actually a new-build structure. The store opened in 2018 just prior to my visit, and while it's not an enormous market, it's a solid 6100 square feet. This location joins another at the north end of Bushwick and one in Astoria/LIC .