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TOUR: 206 Farmers Market - Hillsborough, NJ

206 Farmers Market
Owner: Song Suh
Opened: 2008 under current ownership
Cooperative: none
Location: 626 US-206, Hillsborough, NJ
Photographed: July 2020
Notice anything familiar about that facade? That's right, it's a former A&P! The awning has been redone since A&P left, but the bones are there -- A&P just would've had brown shingles on the awning, instead of the signature bright turquoise Bottle King awning. Acme Style first reported on this store back in 2013, and I'm back here for some more pictures in summer 2020. The store looks to be 8100 square feet of the A&P's 24,500 square feet. I also assume, though I could be wrong, that the A&P closed shortly after the ShopRite opened directly across the street.
Acme Style has pretty good coverage of the store's history as an A&P, but at the end of the day, I'm here for the current farmers market. It's part of the Farmers Market Group, which also owns the Route 10 Farmers Market and Central Farmers Market, among others.
As Acme Style notes, A&P's back wall was probably farther back than the existing back wall now, since there's no decor along the back wall.
What was once cold cuts is now baked goods under this lower ceiling on the right side. There's a few rows of grocery items, such as the pasta here, but the focus of the store is very much the produce and deli.
Looking back out towards the main sales floor and the entrance towards the front.
More evidence of the back wall being moved in is the managers' office, seen here at the back of the store. A&P's office would've probably been in the front of the store, and this is a bizarre place to put a managers' office if the store continued instead of being cut off where the wall is now. Dairy is in the back part of the store here, with a large deli extending along the rest of the side wall...
I must say that although these are solid stores, I don't love the Farmers Market Group stores. The Garden Farm Market stores are much better run and nicer stores in general, plus the produce items seem to always be of higher quality at the Garden stores.
The front end is actually pleasantly open and spacious. Looking good! By the way, is that A&P flooring left on the ground? I can't tell for sure, and I wasn't even sure when I was in store because of the carpets all over the floor. Any input? Anyway, our final Hillsborough store is coming up right here tomorrow, so come back to check it out!

Comments

  1. The blue diamonds do look familiar, but not sure from what.

    As to the individual carpets, it almost looks like the ones by each checkout were put there to show the 6 feet (with the blue tape at the end of them)? Also like there should be another one past the guy by Register 3 for Register 4, if that sign is hidden by his head, but it's not there for some reason. Not sure about the rest of the carpeting, unless things were moved around (like the checkout counters or older shelving behind them) and that covers up spots in the flooring?

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    1. Hmm, those are good points. I actually am feeling like the blue-ish flooring might be faded from green, since I remember it looking more green in person, and that would almost certainly be an A&P leftover. You're probably right about the carpets, though.

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  2. Also I see some former Ames carts from the late 1990s with the logos removed in the very first picture. Looks like they also have the same red ex-Trader Joe's wire carts as the Route 10 Farmers Market and Central Farmers Market stores.

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    Replies
    1. Good catch! It would make sense that they have the same carts since they're all the same ownership group. Thanks for the detail!

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