A Grocery Store Returns to East Hartsdale Avenue: How the Saturday Errand Run Changes

"Anyone can sell a bag of chips. We cater to the neighborhood." That is how Johny Taveras, co-general manager of the new Hartsdale Marketplace by Key Foods, described the store to Westfair Communications on the day it opened at 196 East Hartsdale Avenue. The store took over the former Rite Aid site, and its opening finishes a run of small changes along this stretch of Hartsdale. Those changes have been adding up for more than a year, and the supermarket is the anchor they were waiting for.

Thirty-Two Months Between Anchors

Rite Aid's Hartsdale store closed on Feb. 1, 2024, during the company's restructuring and bankruptcy, as Westfair reported. The replacement opened on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. That's about two years and eight months with an empty anchor space in the middle of the business district.

The opening also came later than first planned. Here is how the timeline played out:

The second row matters most. In the fall 2025 announcement, Feiner said, "Earlier this summer we repaved the business district. And recently a new farmers market opened on Saturday mornings." He added that he believed the new supermarket "will help attract more pedestrian traffic and help existing businesses succeed." So the town fixed the street and started the market first, and the store that was supposed to bring in steady foot traffic arrived a year later. In his Sept. 20, 2026 announcement, Feiner wrote that residents "have asked for a supermarket on East Hartsdale Ave for years."

A Store Sized for One Avenue

The new store is small for a supermarket. Westfair describes it as 6,700 square feet. The renovation cost more than $2 million, and the store will employ 25 to 40 people. The Taveras family runs it, and it's the family's fourth cooperative store with Key Foods. The other three are two in Corona, Queens, and one in Jersey City. Johny Taveras and his brother Cesar share the co-general manager role.

At that size, the store has to choose what it carries. According to Westfair, the shelves include:

• Produce, plus meat and deli counters
• Prepared dishes
• Paper goods and cleaning products
• A small selection of health and beauty supplies behind the checkout
• Bell & Evans chicken and Morton & Bassett spices
• The store's own Urban Meadow label

The hours run 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, according to both Westfair's report and the Key Food store page. That makes the store the earliest and latest stop on the avenue for groceries. It's open before the farmers market starts on Saturday and long after the market packs up.

Gelato From Down the Avenue, Sold at the New Store

According to Westfair, the new market carries Gotham Freeze, a Hartsdale-based maker of gelato and sorbet run by Dennis and Anne Davis, who joined the opening on Oct. 2.

Gotham Freeze already had a storefront on the same avenue. Daily Voice reported a soft opening at 13 East Hartsdale Avenue on April 19 and 20, 2025. That was the same season the town repaved the business district and the Saturday market started. The Gotham Freeze contact page still lists that address, along with pickup, delivery, and hours. A pint made at No. 13 is now on the shelf at No. 196. The two businesses support each other.

The Saturday Run, Address by Address

The farmers market is the reason Saturday is the day to try the full loop. Greenburgh's schedule puts the Hartsdale Farmers Market next to the Hartsdale train station on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., running through Nov. 28, 2026, according to the town's announcement. Counting from Thursday, Oct. 22, six market Saturdays are left: Oct. 24, Oct. 31, and Nov. 7, 14, 21 and 28. The town lists produce, baked goods, dairy, meats and prepared foods among what the market offers.

Starting at the station, the stretch lines up like this:

1. Hartsdale Farmers Market, next to the Hartsdale train station. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., through Nov. 28.
2. Copper Kettle Cafe, near the Metro-North station, according to its website, which offers reservations and ordering.
3. Gotham Freeze, 13 East Hartsdale Avenue.
4. Hartsdale Marketplace by Key Foods, 196 East Hartsdale Avenue. Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
5. Purr & Paw Pet Supply, 199 East Hartsdale Avenue, across the address range from the market. The town announced a grand opening for March 27, 2026, with pet food, treats and toys.
6. Hartsdale House of Pizza, 203 East Hartsdale Avenue, which lists ordering and store hours on its site.
7. Hunan Village II, 222 East Hartsdale Avenue, which lists ordering and hours on its site.

Before Oct. 2, this route had produce on Saturday mornings, gelato, pet supplies and takeout. Anything else for the pantry meant a trip somewhere else. With the store open, you can do the whole weekly shop between the station and No. 222. After Nov. 28, when the market's season ends, the store at No. 196 is the place on the avenue to buy produce.

Store hours, menus and ordering details change, so check each business's own page before you plan a trip around it.

Pieces Still Being Filled In

A few details about the new store are still plans. Feiner's September notice said the supermarket "will offer door to door delivery" and planned free parking vouchers for shoppers who spend over a certain amount. In Westfair's opening-day story, Feiner described the vouchers as a probability, and no spending threshold had been named. Office manager Melissa Taveras told Westfair that "the phone is ringing with residents looking forward to deliveries." The Hartsdale Marketplace website is the best place to watch for both.

Two other storefronts are changing hands. A Journal News photo gallery from September 2025 showed Hartsburry Deli N Grill planned for 181 East Hartsdale Avenue, the former Pretty Lil Sweets space. It also showed signs for Mikado X Hartsdale at 214 East Hartsdale Avenue, where Enrico's Bakery used to be. Both addresses are in the same block range as the new store. When Feiner announced Key Food in 2025, he said that with a supermarket in place, "when there are vacancies high quality tenants will be more likely to want to open their businesses on the avenue." The next few months at Nos. 181 and 214 will show how that holds up now that the anchor is open.

The town's Oct. 2 post announced the opening the same day it happened. For anyone reading this on Thursday, Oct. 22, the next market Saturday is Oct. 24, and the store opens at 7 a.m. that day.

If you live in Hartsdale and you've been watching East Hartsdale Avenue fill back in, I'd be glad to talk about what these changes mean for your own street, whether you're settling in for the long run or thinking about a next step. I'm Christine Naber, and I'm always happy to compare notes on the neighborhood. Let's Connect.