The Independent Edition

The Meat Place  Owner:  Peter Sills Opened:  2009 Cooperative:  Krasdale Location:  1423 Nostrand Ave, Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 Today's snapshot is the second of the two Meat Place locations, with the first being about three quarters of a mile south on Nostrand Ave. This location opened in 2009, nine years after the first. And it also appears that this one is under a different owner, Peter Sills instead of Anthony Marchese, however that could also just be an error in the listing. This location is two doors north of JK Joe Farm , which you can see with the green awning in the above picture.

JK Joe Farm Owner:  Joseph Kim Opened:  2012 Cooperative:  none Location:  1427 Nostrand Ave, Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 Very quick look today at this store on the east side of Nostrand Avenue as we continue to head north. It previously operated as Lucky Farm, with JK Joe Farm opening in 2012. Up next we head two doors north to the second location of The Meat Place!

MK Marketplace Owner:  Mun Kwan Cha Opened:  2017-2020(?) Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  3008 Church Ave, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 Just a block west of Country Coco is the 4,000 square foot MK Marketplace. It's a very similar store in many ways. In fact, the stores used to share an owner. MK was the Master Food Supermarket from its opening in 1998 until about 2015, when it rebranded to MK Supermarket. Inc 2017, a new corporate entity was formed called MK Market Place Inc. While I can't locate an individual's name for the MK entity, I'm willing to bet ownership has not changed and that Mun Kwan (MK) Cha is still running this store. So here's the thing about supermarkets. They're a hard business to be in. The profit margins are so low that especially independent owners have no wiggle room whatsoever. And the reality is, dense urban locations (regardless of income level of the neighborhood, by the ...

Country Coco Owner:  Hwan C Sung Opened:  2013 Cooperative:  none Location:  3114 Church Ave, Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 Our store today is a 3400 square foot Caribbean grocery store that's close to central Flatbush. Previously the Nebraskaland Supermarket owned by Mun Kwan Cha (who also previously owned what's now the Church Fruit Farm and currently owns tomorrow's MK Marketplace), this store changed ownership and branding in 2013. This is another narrow and deep store. While it doesn't carry meat, as Nebraskaland did, it has a large produce and Caribbean grocery selection. The store was also renovated in 2013, bringing in a larger produce department and new flooring. Great mix of basic and international produce items. Heading to the back of the store, we encounter the grocery department, with a heavy emphasis on Caribbean and natural/specialty products. Refrigerator cases mostly stocked with single-serve...

Church Farm Market Owner:  unknown Opened:  2016 Cooperative:  none Location:  4003 Church Ave, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 A very quick look at this store two blocks west of Shop Fair . At 5500 square feet, this store is actually the same size as Shop Fair but sells only produce, seafood, and basic groceries. It's worth noting, though, that Shop Fair has a very small produce department and almost no seafood, so the two stores complement each other very well. A closer look at some of what the store offers on the front sidewalk... Sure could go for one of those 2/$1 mangos right about now. Anyway, that's all for the Church Farm Market. Come back tomorrow for another Ideal Food Basket!

JS Church Farm Owner:  unknown Opened:  2015 Cooperative:  none Location:  4724 Church Ave, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 Right next to yesterday's Ideal Food Basket (see it in the first picture?) is yet another greengrocer shop. As many of these stores are, the JS Church Farm is located on a corner for maximum visibility. It looks from my visit to the Ideal that this smaller store keeps Ideal on its toes as far as produce goes, because both stores had very good-looking produce selections. This store, as far as I can tell, sells only fresh produce.

JB Fruits Natural Food Owner:  Chee Hun Cho Opened:  2017 Cooperative:  none Location:  880 Utica Ave, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY Photographed:  May 2019 This sharp-looking greengrocer is located at the corner of Utica and Church Avenues in what amounts to the main intersection of East Flatbush. There's certainly quite a selection out there in front of the store! We're just three doors north of the New Best Utica Market that we saw yesterday. While at about 2500 square feet, JB Fruits Natural Food is smaller than New Best Utica, it also looks newer and better organized. While this store doesn't sell fish as New Best Utica does, it does have flowers and organic produce. Next we'll be heading west on Church Avenue from this store to return to the central Flatbush area, and making quite a few stops along the way!