'Foodtown' Now Open in Prospect Heights

By Kings County Politics News Service

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Local lawmakers including Assemblymember Walter Mosley, City Councimember Laurie Cumbo and NYC Public Advocate Letitia James celebrated the grand re-opening and re-naming of Prospect Heights' historic Met Foodmarket — now called Foodtown — at a high-spirits ribbon-cutting Friday.

The family-owned grocery store first opened on Vanderbilt Avenue over 33 years ago. Its current owners, Frank Widdi and Abdul Jawadare, who bought the business in 1983, said they remain committed to providing the highest quality service and merchandise to customers. (For more on their vision, read Patch's interview with the pair last week.)

Widdi's father and brother were also grocers in Brooklyn — and now his own children are involved with the business on Vanderbilt. The store recently completed a significant renovation, adding floor space and it now offers a larger variety of grocery items.

The prominent Bay Ridge-based Arab-American family also has a grocery store on Fulton Street.

“Although I studied medical technology, I decided to follow in my late father’s footsteps," Widdi said. "He was a pioneer grocer, and in 2012, New York City named a street in his honor — Subhi Widdi Way, located at 56th Street and 6th Avenue in Brooklyn."

The new Foodtown is located at 632 Vanderbilt Ave., between Park Place and Prospect Place in Prospect Heights.

A version of this story originally ran on the Kings County Politics news site. Lead photo by John V. Santore