It’s Here! Associated Market Opens On 5th Avenue

Friends and neighbors, the moment has finally arrived.

After more than two years, an eternal “coming soon” sign, and dozens of rumored starts, 5th Avenue’s new Associated Market (615 5th Avenue at 17th Street) officially opened its doors around 12pm on Thursday.

Immediately upon entering, we were greeted with rows of fresh produce on the righthand side of the store. Overall, the fruit and veg looked great, though we did have to dig a bit to score some decent looking blueberries.

Some areas of the store, including the checkout aisles, were a bit tight, and we can see lots of buggy traffic jams during peak hours, but honestly, the space is no worse than any other New York City supermarket.

The store is still in the process of stocking some of their shelves, but we found most of the items that were on our shopping list, which was a plus.

The meat selection was nice, with a large variety of both poultry and beef, but prices did seem a bit higher than 9th Street’s C-Town. The store also has a full deli, with a handful of prepared foods available.

Associated is definitely a good addition to the neighborhood, especially for folks on the south side. It’s an improvement over Bravo and Key Food, and we spotted a handful of great sales (check out the cereal aisle). That said, C-Town still appears to trump when it comes to price and selection.

As time goes on, it will be interesting to see how Bravo fares now that it’s sandwiched between two new grocery stores.

For now, though, the focus is on Associated. Have you had a chance to check out the new store? What did you think?

Associated Market is located on 5th Avenue at 17th Street. Hours are currently set at 8am to 9pm, but store officials say that they hope to eventually operate from 7am to 10pm.