Green Olive Farmers Market
Owner: Kevin Jeon
Opened: 2016
Cooperative: none
Location: 214 Front St, South Plainfield, NJ
Photographed: July 2020
This little corner of South Plainfield, which appears to kind of be as much of a downtown as South Plainfield has, had a Food Fair grocery store from 1959 to 1965. And while there were other grocery stores nearby, the intersection of Front Street and South Plainfield Avenue didn't see another grocery store until Green Olive Farmers Market opened up in 2016 across the street from the former Food Fair.
The 11,000 square foot spot seems to be a popular destination for produce and deli items (and by the way, the Dollar General visible in the background was the Food Fair). Let's head in to check out the interior!
We descend a ramp to the sales floor to enter the produce department in the front half of the store. Deli and seafood counters line the left side wall of the building (to our right above), with a small dairy/frozen department on the back wall and a few short grocery aisles in the back half of the store. But what do we have here?
That's right, a fully intact A&P Fresh 2.0 produce department sign! Clearly brought in secondhand from some nearby A&P. It's tempting to say this is from the nearby South Plainfield A&P, which is possible, but that would mean ACME gave South Plainfield the Quality Built treatment less than a year after moving in, since this sign appears in mid-2016 photos of Green Olive -- which is possible, but I'm not sure if that happened. There are some signs that appear to be from a Pathmark Sav-A-Center, which was across from the A&P/ACME in South Plainfield, too.
They're barely even noticeable (I didn't see them in-store) on the far wall to the left above, a few circular pictures of food. This gives a good idea of the store's interior.
And looking up towards the front wall of the store, in the other direction. Deli and seafood line the wall opposite the entrance, but it looks like seafood may be permanently gone...
Or at least I find it hard to believe that the department is "closed for the evening," as that small sign on the counter says, at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Friday.
Here's the split between produce and grocery.
And it sure is an eclectic mix of groceries. Not too many mainstream products to be found here.
Dairy and frozen in the back of the store, and registers/floral over on the right side wall...
That's all for this store, and make sure to check out the former Food Fair across the street. I've mentioned the former A&P and Pathmark in South Plainfield several times now, so tomorrow we're going to get to take a look at both, one on The Market Report and one on Grocery Archaeology!
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