More than 100 local residents joined local elected officials outside Key Food Astoria on 31st Street Thursday night, the latest rally in an ongoing effort to keep the grocery store from being replaced by a Target when its lease expires October 1.

“This is tearing us down," said Rosetta Jlelaty, an Astoria resident. We already lost another supermarket. Now, we’re losing our best off-the-train supermarket to get Target? No thanks!”

Customers say Key Food Astoria isn’t just a grocery store, it’s been a lifeline during the coronavirus pandemic and part of the neighborhood for decades. 

“We dont need a Target here," said Caroline Rodriguez, an Astoria resident. "They have other locations that are not too far from here. It’s too big of a store for here. They are not going to provide, they have groceries, but they don't have what a supermaket has."

"Customers are already being affected, even with the store still open. The store is still stocking its staple items but has stopped reordering some of its product.

Man-Dell Food Stores, still a family business, owns the grocery store. Angela Stefanidis, the manager, has been with the company since the '80s. If the supermarket does close, she and 150 others will be out of a job. 

“It's very stressful because we all got layoff letters," Stefanidis said. :During the pandemic, we gave everything, and it’s very hard just to know that we won't be here."

Those campaigning to keep Key Food Astoria think they still have a shot. They say with coronavirus transmission now consistently low, they're ramping up public pressure on Target.

“We’re going to start making phone calls, getting a lot louder on social media." said state Senator Jessica Ramos, whose district includes Astoria. "We’re hopefully going to blast Target out of Astoria and keep them out for good."

Target issued a statement on this story, which reads, “We’ve been serving neighborhoods throughout New York for more than 20 years, and our philosophy all along has been really simple: take care of our guests, take care of our team and be great neighbors in the communities we serve. That includes working with local organizations like the Queens Chamber of Commerce and civic leaders to understand local needs. It means rallying our teams to volunteer in local efforts and supporting organizations who are creating positive change. As we look to open new stores in Jackson Heights and Astoria, we continue to invest time in learning how to best serve each community – not just to make sure we have the right products on the shelves, but to determine how we can work together to support the things they care about most.”