The Independent Edition

Farm Country Supermarkets Owner: Jose Diaz Opened:  November 2022 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Co-Operative Location:  37-15 31st Ave, Astoria, Queens, NY Photographed:  January 12, 2023 Today's third special report is not far from the first two in Long Island City (see here and here ). We're about 3/4 of a mile north in Astoria, Queens, for a store that was an Associated Supermarket since 1976. After closing in summer of 2022, it reopened in November as a Farm Country affiliated with Key Food. The Farm Country in East New York we toured a while back was sold shortly after I visited, around 2020, and changed its affiliation from Shop Fair to Key Food, and that store's owners have since opened two others -- this one and a former Waldbaum's-turned-Food Universe in Jackson Heights. The 13,000 square foot store was a very old supermarket , and Farm Country's owners clearly invested a lot of money to modernize the space and drastically increase selection, or at least...

Billy's Marketplace Owner:  Billy Rodriguez Opened:  2017 Cooperative:  Krasdale Location:  870 Cypress Ave, Ridgewood, Queens, NY Photographed:  July 2018 In 2017, the conversion of the former Fleur de Lis Caterers Ballroom into Billy's Marketplace was completed. The former catering hall became a supermarket just shy of 20,000 square feet with a coffee shop, beer bar, bakery, and seafood department. Soon thereafter, the store's positioning was altered slightly, angling less upscale. The store added a CTown affiliation, beginning to use the CTown circular with lower prices on mainstream grocery items instead of more specialty items. The seafood department was closed, and the grocery selection was modified to angle more mainstream. I visited the store after this transition was complete, and it's an interesting combination between upscale and mainstream. I'm not sure just how successful it is, but it's good to see that the owners of this store a...