First Impressions: Shoppers Return To Re-Opened Myrtle Avenue Key Food
Outside the newly reopened Key Food at 490 Myrtle Avenue today, the scene hadn’t much changed; construction continues apace. But there was a giant sign shouting the news that today, October 9, was their “Soft Opening” — the grand opening is coming soon — and an employee stood outside telling passersby that “We’re open!”
Inside, though, it was the instant-supermarket experience with bright lights, airy aisles, and market circulars advertising the week’s specials — only neater and more fully stocked than a typical grocery run. For any long-time residents familiar with the old Associated, though, something else immediately stood out.
“The old aisles were cramped and dim; these are wide and bright,” said one older resident who was browsing the discount circular with a friend near the front of the store. “But a lot of the items look pricey and organic. I’ll have to see [how the prices are].”
Another longtime resident, this time of nearby Willoughby Walk houses, expressed initial concern about prices, too, deciding that today was not a shopping day so much as a comparison shopping day. Walking around with a list in her hand, the woman said “prices are mostly the same” as at other local stores, but that some items — such as hand soap and bulk supplies — she can make at home or have her husband buy at Costco. Still, she said she’s glad to have the supermarket back because it was a lot of walking with heavy bags to do her shopping on Lafayette or Waverly Avenue.
Valerie Brooks agreed. “This new Key Food opening is a big sigh of relief to the community and especially to the seniors who are on a budget and want to eat healthy,” said Brooks, a resident a 333 Lafayette Avenue — right next door to the other Key Food that closed in the past few months to kick off three years of construction on a housing tower.
Employees and students at Pratt are also pleased, with Nadine Shuler noting that “it’s great for healthy and quick options for lunch or a snack.”
“It’s nice and has a large selection, with comparable prices to other stores,” Shuler added. However, she also noted that while the aisles were wider, they were also something of a maze.
“It’s a little confusing finding things, so it needs more signage and something like matching T-shirts for employees so I can tell who works there,” she said.
Fortunately for many of the former Associated employees, they remain on staff at the new Key Food.
In addition to produce, meats, frozen foods, canned goods, and drinks, the Key Food also has Brooklyn Fare items in stock, along with a salad bar, bakery, aisles for kitchen supplies and baby food and cleaning supplies, and even a refillable olive oil station.
“We’re really excited to be returning home,” shared Rudy Guzman, son of one of the owners who grew up working in the family business, which began with a corner store in Queens and then expanded to a supermarket on Waverly Avenue in 1994. “The reopened store will have a focus on “homemade,” particularly as it concerns the on-premises baking and cooking in the store’s prepared foods and catering section.”
“This supermarket was an anchor for our district, and our community has felt its absence over these past years,” said Meredith Phillips Almeida, executive director of the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership. “We are happy to welcome Key Food and the Guzmans back to Myrtle Avenue, and to provide another local grocery shopping opportunity right here in our district.”
