The Independent Edition

Rockaway Farmers Market Owner: unknown Opened:  2013, 2016 under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  353 US-46, Rockaway, NJ Photographed:  July 2020 We return to the Rockaway Farmers Market on route 46 (just west of the ALDI ) after first seeing it during Farmers Market Week back in 2019. This time we're taking a more detailed look at the inside. I photographed the store when in the area over the summer of 2020, but I'm glad I did at that time. Jersey Digs reports that LIDL intends to take over the property and demolish the existing building for a new LIDL. As of the fall of 2021, the Rockaway Farmers Market was still going strong so it's unclear exactly what the timeline would be for that takeover. The majority of the store is dedicated to produce, but there's also a deli department in the front right corner of the sales floor. The store is shaped like an L, with the deli in the bottom right part and produce/grocery in the rest. Here we're looking o...

Corrado's Market Owner: Jimmy Corrado Opened:  2019 Cooperative:  Associated Supermarket Group Location:  3130 NJ-10, Denville, NJ Photographed:  May 2019 Wait! Before you proceed to read this post, you must read about Olive Tree first ! Olive Tree Marketplace opened a 15,000 square foot high-end supermarket in the Denville Commons back in May 2016, but it was poorly run and extremely short-lived. The store closed in the first month or two of 2018. By May 2019, local Italian specialty chain Corrado's Market had opened up in the space after doing absolutely nothing to the space other than fully stocking it. But what a difference that makes! While I can't speak to how well Denville is doing, I can say that the Corrado's locations in Wayne and Fairfield are quite impressive (sorry, North Arlington , but that store just isn't up to the standards of the others). I was here about a week after Corrado's officially opened, and it was looking quite good. Check out how...

Olive Tree Marketplace Owner: David Shehadeh Opened:  2016-2018 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores > Retail Grocers Group Location:  3130 NJ-10, Denville, NJ Photographed:  October 2017 We return to the 15,000 square foot Olive Tree Marketplace in Denville for the final time. These pictures were a follow-up to our original set , which were rather limited. The short-lived store on route 10 in the southern part of Denville was plagued by many of the same problems that plagued the Shehadeh brothers' Foodtown-turned-Shop Fair in Howard Beach along with their Associated > Key Food > Associated > Shop Fair > Olive Tree in Bay Ridge , which is now a dollar store. So far, the Olive Tree on Staten Island seems to barely still be in business, and the Shehadehs also own two stores on Church Ave in Flatbush ( 4121 and 2720 ) -- both of which were Associated > Key Food > Shop Fair and are now back to Associated again. I also suspect the Associated at 170 Broad...

We are wrapping up Morris County with our final group representing Greater Dover and Western Morris County! Now, we left off in Denville, and we're actually going to pick up in Denville again tomorrow but with a store way outside of town. There are more or less three highways running east-west through this part of the county: New Jersey state route 10 at the south, US-46 in the middle, and interstate 80 at the north. We're going to start by seeing a store on route 10 at the southeastern corner of the group, then heading north to Rockaway on 46 and west into downtown Dover just off of 46. From there, we're heading north again to the route 80 area for a few more Rockaway stores (Rockaway is weirdly shaped since there's a borough and a township, and the borough is the small central one and the township surrounds it) before moving on to Wharton, where 80 intersects north-south artery NJ-15 at which point we'll detour north to Jefferson and Oak Ridge. From there, we'...

City Supermarket Owner: Mitchel Lopez Opened:  2020 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  289 Bergen Blvd, Fairview, NJ Photographed:  November 2021 It's been a while, but I returned to the City Supermarket at Fair Ridge in Fairview, NJ in late November to check in and see how the store was doing. And to buy some really good feta (which I did). I found the store even better than it was the first time around . Unlike the previous owners of this store, these folks certainly know what they're doing. The product mix is better and more diverse, and pricing is definitely better too. Excellent perishables all around, and people are certainly noticing it -- the store was way busier than it was the last time I visited, and busier than it was when it was the previous tenant . The bakery and prepared foods departments were fully set up, and those two hadn't been set up at the time of my previous visit. The bakery has an excellent variety of store-made items and locally...

Universal Food Markets Owner: Vishu Patel Opened:  between 1997 and 2000 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  2325 Elizabeth Ave, Rahway, NJ Photographed:  November 2021 We return to Rahway for another Universal update, and oh boy is it a good one. We last stopped by Universal in July when the remodel was just beginning , and we observed a new facade going on the front along with some construction work going on inside. I am pleased to report that the remodel is nearing completion and the store looks better than ever. Also in the interim Universal has joined Key Food. Nice paint job on the new facade, and again, I have to assume the entrance is being moved over to the right side of the store into what is now the grand aisle... Come on, what else would you be building all that for?! Let's jump over to the inside for more evidence... Looks like it's being prepared for an entrance door since this whole area is tarped off. I actually kind of squeezed back here for th...