Trade Fair Supermarket

Update some time later: still selling outdated food, wilted lettuce, old fruit, decaying onions and garlic, etc. see pic.

Ugh, why can’t this place be managed better?
The selection of products and produce is really good and prices are mostly fair, but it’s always a little dirty feeling, checking out takes forever because they get a lot of delivery checkouts and for some reason they do this by hand. I think the cashiers are generally nice, but really no sense of urgency. They seem a little overworked or under motivated. Maybe everyone needs a raise?

24 hours is nice, looked no different than any other nyc grocery, variety is definitely limited but when it saves you a longer walk it doesn’t matter to me, the produce and meats all looked pretty good

Clearly I missed all the pre-​renovation fuss, picketing and all.
Nowadays they actually offer a lot of organics, many of which are conveniently in their own aisle. Their in-​store baked bread is still fresh & soft in the evening, and while their produce isn’t as fresh as United Brothers, hey — no other local store is either, and the organic kale I nab there (yeah, I’m THAT one) stays fresh all week. I’ve never bought an expired item here, and I check expiry dates regularly. Can’t speak for their seafood, but the guy gets his pre-​wrapped chicken there & hasn’t died yet.
To all who complain about the cat, hello and welcome to NYC! I always prefer a cat to rodents.
I have caught stuff scanning different than its sale price, but the cashiers never gave me a problem correcting it.
And yes, everyone there speaks English too, she says… her voice rich with disapproval.
5^th star comes from their lack of closing, ever. Open 24 hours on CHRISTMAS DAY.

I’ve been around these parts long enough to have seen TF take over Golden Chopsticks old space. then the corner dry cleaning spot… and I’ve grown to love this place. The owners/​cashiers are friendly and they’ve really stepped their game up as they’ve expanded.
I’ve seen that damn cat around in the past (I remember because Im allergic and hate cats with a passion), but the place isn’t over run by felines.
Quality additions that I’ve noticed: the salad bar/​hot food stand (dont sleep on the fried chicken or the egg rolls, Im serious), fresh bakery items like croissants and hero rolls (really good), granola dispensers and grind your own coffee majiggers (I hate coffee, so coffee ppl will probably know more about these things).
Oh and in my decade+ of living in the hood, TF has NEVER closed (open 24/​7, holidays and all). Will continue to be a loyal customer for as long as I’m around.

I liked it but I’m new to the town and wasn’t here for the cat /​picketing era. For those in the area without cars, the quality beats the 31^st st Key Foods and is closer than Berry Fresh.
Cheap enough and the produce looked okay. Maybe its the lesser of 3 evils? I’ll take that.

I give 3 stars only because they NEVER close (even holidays). They carry the basic stuff. Don’t look for organic or cool products, you won’t find them. The ladies at the check out line are very friendly but don’t ask many questions, they won’t understand you. They do their best.

I’ve been to this market several times and the service has declined. Be careful of perishable items and their freshness. Their seafood is not fresh but frozen imported from China and Vietnam.
Be wary of the deli department. I asked for Boars Head ham sliced thin and I got low grade deli ham sliced even though I was charged for premium brand.
On several occasions the prices at the register DO NOT reflect the displayed sales price and you have to point it out. After being charged $ 4.49 full price instead of the sale price of $ 2.99 I pointed it out to the cashier and she adjusted the price to $ 3.99 again I corrected her and she was pissed and finally got it right at $ 2.99.
Rude cashiers that don’t hand you change but put it on the counter.
In the past 7 months it’s spiralling down. Even though convenient I’m shifting to other options when I am in N.Y.

From the minute I walked in here I had concerns about this place. This trade fair is just dirty. The veggies and raw meat all look completely suspect. many of the fruits and veggies look worn, beaten, and old. The meat looks the same. It just doesn’t look the color it should.
This trade fair also has very limited variety and there aren’t very many weekly deals. This is the closest supermarket to my house and the next closest is… an additional 10 min? geez. Where’s a C-​Town when you need one… Words i thought I’d never say.

I went here today for the first time in months and was surprised to find it’s even worse than it used to be, despite the recent renovation/​expansion. I used to feel okay buying fresh produce and sealed non-​perishable food here, but now I won’t even do that.
There are currently huge signs everywhere, even outside, saying photography is prohibited inside the store. This alone was enough to make me want to go in to see how bad it had gotten. So then I walked in, and the store still has the same foul stench it always had. Then I walked over to the meat department, where there are signs hanging over all the meat saying that the union workers are lying about their meat being spoiled and improperly labeled. There are also yet more signs in that area saying that photography is prohibited. You know, Trade Fair management, maybe if your store wasn’t so disgusting and insulting to customers with its filth and stench, people wouldn’t care to take pictures of it.
Forget the produce. I stopped buying that a while back when I noticed brown water dripping on the broccoli from a filthy, mildewy spray head. This is not a place to buy food. There are better produce stores in the neighborhood, including the competitively priced California Farmers Market.

This is easily the worst market in the area. The produce is limp and old, and the meat section is grey and disgusting. To wit there is a butchers strike because the market refuses to hire workers who follow code. All in all avoid this market at all costs.
6÷21÷13: In addition, please be informed that this market was picketed for several months for poor/​old meat, and the meat quality was dangerous to consumers. Subsequently, management posted a note outside the premises that using any video was strictly prohibited inside the market which obviously begs the question, what are you afraid of then?

DISGUSTING! I washed my hands as soon as I got home.
Barely any vegan/​vegetarian products.
One star for being open ²⁴⁄₇.
Go here for canned/​boxed/​frozen items. Anything fresh is either rotting or on the verge of rotting.
The produce is also very disorganized and it’s almost impossible to figure out what the prices are unless you know exactly what leafy vegetable or pepper you’re looking at. I went here today out of sheer convenience. Berry Fresh down the street is a far far superior option.

DELIVERANCE.
Don’t care how cheap it is, this place was sad. Unorganized, messy, cramped, nasty… wouldnt even trust canned goods.
Won’t be back

Bought chili peppers. The cashier didn’t weigh them since there was a small amount and gave them to me for free! :)

I’m sure the manager at Trade Fair – when he’s not standing by the door, watching you decide whether to double-​bag your items – heeded the Unilocal reviews, guys. Your negative reviews paid off. How? Because he’s renovating the place! Finally, Trade Fair has decided to begin to try to compete in the Astoria-​Ditmars grocery industry. With Key Food protecting its coveted ace spot, the brand new California Farmer’s Market vying for the growing youth market, and Berry Fresh just recently completing its massive renovation, Trade Fair is back in the game, baby.
A lot of these reviewers don’t understand the basic notion that you get what you pay for. If they were charging Key Food prices, then you’d have the right to be outraged, but they charge significantly less for the dying vegetables, bacterial meat, and hardened bread they sell. You don’t give a little girl’s lemonade stand one star on Unilocal for «bad customer service.»
Yeah, the cashiers don’t talk to you. Even if they could speak English, look around at their work environment. Would you feel confident in your customer service when your freezer section smells like a 3 foot wide anus?
BOTTOM LINE: It’s cheap, it’s open all the time, and it has a diverse amount of ethnic food.

This supermarket is small and cramped. The prices are generally the same as Key Food by the subway stop.
The worst thing though is they let flies run rampant. They’re even in the bagel bins, which have the nastiestdirtiest looking tongs.
The workers also look like they wanna kill you.
Claustrophobics beware.

You see that orange cat that someone uploaded a picture of?
Last night I walked into Trade Fair, and immediately saw the cat slowly hunt an enormous cockroach, which the cat struck as it disappeared into a pile of oranges.
So, to recap, an animal that lives in the produce section of a grocery store chased a cockroach into a pile of oranges.
Come for the health code violations, stay for the ass-​smell in the freezer section!

Sometimes I’m in the mood for Ocean Spray cranberry-​strawberry juice. And Stella D’oro breadsticks. Or orange juice. Or some macintosh apples. At 2AM.
The aisles are rather narrow so please be considerate; there are people likely trying to get around you.
I’ve never had any issues with this place but there’s nothing that keeps me coming back other than the proximity to home.

Open 24 hours and cheap? Definitely a great place to go to buy groceries and canned goods. Trade Fair is very convenient, however the meat they carry are either not fresh or plain bad. The pork sausages I once brought were horrid! They looked okay after baking them, but they tasted like soap, yuk. I would advise you to avoid purchasing meat here and stick with the hard-​to-​ruin-​pre-​packaged foods. Though, their veggies are not too bad.

Wow. Just got back from Trade Fair. I saw the dumbest sale sign ever there. Pasta, 2 for $ 1, $ 30 minimum purchase. LIMIT ONE!
Now how stupid is that? Who offers 2 items for a dollar, with a limit of one item?! And who is going to spend $ 30 to save… 50 cents, is that right? Are these people mentally challenged?
I immediately took a photo of the sign (see the photos for this listing) because it must be seen to be appreciated. Then I brought this to the attention of the check-​out clerk. He agreed it wasn’t right and without my asking, told the manager about it, some elderly guy with a bushy mustache from somewhere in the Middle East. Keep in mind this is at 2 AM.
The manager had the audacity to argue with me about this. Sheesh. «This is a very confusing sign,» I told him. «No, no, no, no, no!» he insisted. «Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!» I replied, laughing inside all the while.
The conversation became too absurd to explain in detail here (I should have taped it), except to say that I told him every grocery store sells one brand of pasta at 5 for $ 5 with no minimum purchase, no minimum quantity, every day of the week (they just rotate the brands). He told me, «I’ll sell it to you for 99 cents each, that’s 5 for $ 4.95, and you don’t have to spend $ 30.»
«What will I do with the nickel I save?» I asked him? (It wasn’t until I got home that I realized he had offered me the regular sale price.)
I swear, I expected the voice of George H. W. Bush to start railing at Saddam Hussein on a TV set nearby. I took another sip of my half and half and left.
I should have told the check-​out clerk that he should apply for the Middle Eastern guy’s job. I mean, he was nice, he was smart, he did the right thing.
Tomorrow I’m calling their corporate office. This aggression will not stand, man.