The Independent Edition

Super Natural Produce Owner: Leopoldo Sanchez Opened:  2014 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  1350 N 12th St, Reading, PA Photographed:  August 20, 2019 Super Natural Produce might sound like Discovery Channel's latest show with Ghost Hunters and Expedition Bigfoot, but there's no paranormal pomegranates here. Instead, Super Natural Produce is an 8700 square foot produce-market-plus in northeastern Reading in what used to be the Brass Lantern . The focus is on the produce and perishables, but this really is also a full supermarket. Produce and perishables are right up front (produce on the left, registers in the front right corner, then deli-bakery/meat/hot food next to the registers on the right). We can then go up a ramp to the grocery, dairy, and frozen departments. My photos are good, but even better is a full interactive tour on Google Maps . Check it out, as this is a really nice small supermarket. After leaving the produce department, we go up a small r...

  We are moving on to the Reading area! Unfortunately, this is not an area I have a lot of experience with, having only been to Reading once. Reading is a rather large city, with a population of just under 100,000 (especially compared to Lancaster and Harrisburg, the state capital, at 60,000 each). We'll begin in Wyomissing, a suburb to the southwest of the city, before checking out five supermarkets within the city of Reading. Not a huge group, it'll be over by the end of next week -- and then we'll be heading back to the Bucks/Montgomery area out to the east of where we are now. Head over to The Market Report tomorrow for our first stop in Wyomissing! Here's some of the special features we have in the meantime... Special Report: Cosmo's Fresh Market - Hewitt, NJ Special Report: West Orange Fooderie - West Orange, NJ Update: Kings Food Markets - Livingston, NJ Update: Food Bazaar Supermarket - Bridgeport, CT Update: SuperFresh - Roselle, NJ Update: Universal Food ...

Universal Food Markets Owner: Vishu Patel Opened:  between 1997 and 2000 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  2325 Elizabeth Ave, Rahway, NJ Photographed:  November 26, 2022 Today we wrapped up the remodel at the Kings in Livingston , and we're going to do the same here at the Universal in Rahway! I've documented this amazing transformation over the course of about a year and a half with the most recent post over the summer . The renovation is completely finished, and the store looks amazing. It's so much brighter and more open-feeling, and feels completely modern. You wouldn't know this building is 50 years old with the newest updates. The front entrance is fully functional... ...and the deli/prepared foods area in the back, the last thing that had yet to be finished inside the store, is all done. Worth noting that, during the process of this renovation, this store switched from Retail Grocers Group (Fine Fare) to Key Food. Most recently, I'd say about a month...

West Orange Fooderie Owner: Shlomo Gornish Opened:  2022 Cooperative:  none (Krasdale supplied) Location:  629 Eagle Rock Ave, West Orange, NJ Photographed:  November 23, 2022 Our second Special Report of the day is here in West Orange, NJ, about six and a half miles outside of downtown Newark. The building at 629 Eagle Rock Avenue was built in 1953 as an ACME which closed in 1965, and by the 1990s, CVS had opened in the space. CVS built a new store down the street in 2014 and then closed this one in 2018, with Aron's West Orange Market opening that year (see more coverage of Aron's here ). It seemed that the store was poorly-run, and closed by 2021. In October 2022, the West Orange Fooderie Market opened up in the 8600 square foot space. They're clearly experiencing some growing pains, too, but with better management they may do better in the space. The area has a large Jewish (including Orthodox Jewish) community, and so it was surprising when Aron's -- the only k...

Cosmo's Fresh Market Owner: Wilson Narvaez Opened:  2022 Cooperative:  Associated Supermarket Group Location:  1926 Union Valley Rd, Hewitt, West Milford, NJ Photographed:  November 23, 2022 Welcome to Cosmo's Fresh Market! For today's first Special Report, we're checking out the new store that moved in where Highland's Market was previously in West Milford. Highland's Market was owned by an operator whose stores regularly failed quickly (South Amboy, Elizabeth, Middlesex, and this one), and who is now working on opening what might be a Shop Well or possibly a Shop Fresh depending on who you ask in Hackettstown. But Highland's Market in the Hewitt section of remote West Milford, New Jersey, was sold and after some small changes is now Cosmo's. The Narvaez family owns Cosmo's, and they are the family behind the La Placita supermarkets. Clearly, they're much more experienced in the business than the Nassers and have had more success. The executi...