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Look Inside: International Farmers Market - Bridgeport, CT

International Farmers Market
Owner: Yousef Fattah
Opened: 2007
Cooperative: Krasdale
Location: 2298 Main St, Bridgeport, CT
Photographed: May 2019
This 11,000 square foot store is located diagonally across the street from the Key Food we saw yesterday. It's co-owned by Yousef Fattah, who owns the Stratford CTown, and his son Samir, who was recently arrested for embezzling from this store.
The International Farmers Market from the Key Food's parking lot. This store is less of a full supermarket than the CTown (for example, it doesn't run a circular), and features produce, meat, seafood, frozen/dairy, and a very small grocery selection. It's also in much rougher shape than the CTown, though that might be a result of its inner-city location and heavier traffic.
The only entrance is at the back of the building, which faces the parking lot and the side street behind. A strange arrangement especially given the urban location, I'd assume many people walk or take public transit to this store.
You enter to a rather unappealing grocery section in the back of the store. Dairy, frozen, and meat run along the side, with seafood at the front and registers on the opposite side wall, around produce in the middle. The layout is quite odd and it's very obvious the entrance was originally in the front.
Looking towards the front wall of the store. Dairy on the right.
A very confusing set of aisles at the back of the store. I am not sure what part of the store we're looking at here. It's funny how the CTown can be such a clean and appealing store while this one feels disorganized and dingy.
Frozen and meat on the side wall of the store. Left side, if you're standing in front looking at the store, and we're looking towards the back here.
The appeal of this store is its large produce and seafood departments, compared to Key Food across the street which has a very small produce department and no seafood.
The produce/seafood department is very open and inviting. With moving the entrance to the back, this is now the last department you enter. Why would that decision be made?
Large seafood department along the front wall of the store.
I like the design of this section a lot. If I had to guess, I'd say this is probably an outside business that is run separately from the rest of the store, which is how arrangements like this in very small stores typically work.
Former entrance/exit area now home to cleaning supplies and nonfoods. The original doors are still intact in the next aisle to the left.
Two registers, with HABA, at the back of the store near the entrance and exit. That wraps up our tour of this store. Tomorrow we have a very different store over on The Market Report!

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