It’s official.
Just weeks after the neighborhood learned that the Key Food at Third Avenue and 94th Street would be shutting its doors, another Key Food will be opening in Bay Ridge, this one at 244 Bay Ridge Avenue.
The new store – which is planned to open by October or November of this year, according to realtor Stephen Palmese, of Massey Knakal Realty – replaces the shuttered Harry’s for the Home, confirming a rumor reported first in this newspaper, three weeks ago.
With a 13,000-square-foot store and 12,000-square-foot parking lot, Palmese said, the site was too small for a national chain, but was workable for a more modest sized retailer.
“This is really good news for a host of reasons,” remarked Josephine Beckmann, the district manager of Community Board 10. “The community in this area had really suffered a loss. It hasn’t had a supermarket for many years, which is the problem the community has spoken most about at recent town hall meetings and the like.”
“This is a major victory for the community,” agreed State Senator Marty Golden, who released the news. “The community breathes a sigh of relief that a new supermarket, with parking, is set to open. I applaud the owner for his recognizing the need to bring a new supermarket to Bay Ridge which is suffering from a lack of supermarkets and options.
“This deal is one that will make a significant impact on the quality of life of Bay Ridge,” he added. “It will allow for convenience in shopping for so many who have faced a hardship for too long.”
However, while the community may be rejoicing over the news, the new supermarket will not help alleviate the situation being caused by the loss of the Key Food at Third and 94th, City Council-member Vincent Gentile pointed out.
“Any place we can get a supermarket, it’s great,” Gentile remarked, “but it doesn’t solve the problem for those living at the other end of the community,” he stressed.
While it is known that that site will be taken over by Walgreen’s drugstore, what is still unknown is how much the chain will accommodate the need for a food retailer at the site, though discussions are ongoing about the possibility of selling fresh foods such as produce and meats there, as well as traditional drugstore merchandise.
Palmese said that Massey Knakal had targeted a supermarket for the Bay Ridge Avenue site, when the landlord first approached the company. “We thought it was a prime area for a supermarket,” he remarked. “We did something out of the box, but it was for the betterment of the community.”
The site was available for approximately 15 months before the Key Food deal was reached, Palmese said.
Besides the soon-to-be-closed Key Food on Third Avenue, the only other supermarkets within Bay Ridge currently are the Foodtown at Third Avenue and 91st Street, which is expanding; the Food City at Third Avenue and Bay Ridge Parkway; a Met Food at 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue; and a small Associated at Third Avenue and 79th Street.
