Key Food is expected to open Sept. 5 in Howard Beach.
Photo by Phil Corso
Howard Beach has an opening date it can hold onto for the new Key Food supermarket on Cross Bay Boulevard.
The chain store said it would open its doors to the community with a grand opening Sept. 5 after a year of anticipation. Members of the community have long yearned for a new supermarket in Howard Beach after so many years with only one option at the Waldbaum’s just up the boulevard.
Duane Reade’s former building at 163-20 Cross Bay Blvd. first displayed the “Coming Soon” sign teasing towards a Key Food opening date in August 2013, but residents and officials in the community were unsure as to when an official opening date might come. Previous deadlines were thrown around over the past year, with the most recent being April 2014, which was obviously not hit in time.
But now, a representative of the supermarket chain said it would host a grand opening on Sept. 5 in Howard Beach, and elected officials took the news as a good sign.
Construction crews kicked efforts into high gear last month and the building has since been transformed from a blank storefront to a flashy supermarket with a brand new Key Food sign on its exterior. The building has since been given new glass windows and an entirely revamped inside.
“I know we’re moving in the right direction,” said state Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park), who has been keeping a close eye on the construction at Key Food over the past year. “Competition will be good for the community.”
That competition Goldfeder spoke of was echoed throughout Howard Beach as some residents argued that Waldbaum’s routinely failed to meet their expectations as the community’s only supermarket option. For years, shoppers in the area have only had the Waldbaum’s brand to choose from when grocery shopping, either the Waldbaum’s at Cross Bay Boulevard and 156th Avenue or another in Lindenwood.
“It will definitely be a welcome addition to the community,” said state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), who has been in close contact with Key Food over recent weeks to ensure the final opening date is met this time around. “This is about job creation, and Key Food is going to be a lot of jobs to our area.”
Several shoppers from Howard Beach and the surrounding area came together to launch a special Facebook page dedicated to their dissatisfaction with the Howard Beach Waldbaum’s, titling the page, “Howard Beach Waldbaum’s Sucks.”
The page’s most recent post came July 1 and showed a picture of big red buckets catching the remnants of a roof leak in the store’s chips and snacks aisle.
“I don’t understand how they just don’t care how bad this store is,” Facebook user Michelle Iasparo said on the page.
Waldbaum’s did not return requests for comment.
Founded in Brooklyn in 1937, Key Food Stores Co-operative Inc. includes more than 145 independently owned and operated grocery stores that rake in about $1.4 billion in annual sales. In addition to Key Food and Key Fresh & Natural, the stores operate under the Key Food Marketplace, Food Dynasty, Food World, Holiday Farms, Locust Valley, and Milford Farms brands in all five boroughs, Long Island, upstate New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
By Phil Corso
