The Independent Edition

Belvidere Food Mart Owner: Jacky Lin Opened:  2012 under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  253 Water St, Belvidere, NJ Photographed:  December 2018 The wonderful quaint town of Belvidere has a population of just over 2600, and right in the middle of downtown we have a roughly 4000 square foot grocery store. The A&P was located about a mile and a half outside of downtown, and A&P had a presence there from the 1960s through 2015. This store seems to have predated the A&P and  outlived it, although it's likely changed ownership a few times. This store is quite small but is set up similar to a regular supermarket, with produce in the first aisle, meat-deli on the back wall, and dairy-frozen on the left side wall. There are probably four aisles or so. Love this classic decor inside, and a nicely upgraded produce department with a new case. There's not a huge service deli/butcher, but it's certainly substantial enough... Much like Nykun's S...

Nykun's Store Owner: Robert Nykun Opened:  1947 Cooperative:  none Location:  331 US-46, Great Meadows, Independence, NJ Photographed:  December 2018 In 2015, I met someone who lives on a farm out here in Liberty, a sprawling 12-square-mile township with fewer than 3000 residents. Naturally, we talked about grocery stores. He told me that since he lived on a farm, he didn't have to do a lot of grocery shopping and would make a trip to the ShopRite in Mansfield, roughly seven miles as the crow flies but farther on the actual roads, about once a month. But when he needed something, he'd just go to Nykun's Store on 46. He kept saying that they have everything  in this tiny little store. Well, that name stuck with me (and I wrote it down), so that more than three years later, when my father and I were headed out towards the Coal Region of Pennsylvania, we had to stop by and see for ourselves. And now you all will, too, because you wouldn't believe it if you didn't ...

Allamuchy General Store Owner: unknown Opened:  1827-2021 Cooperative:  none Location:  2 Johnsonburg Rd, Allamuchy, NJ Photographed:  April 2012 Taking a break from the supermarkets we've been seeing for a fun stop by the Allamuchy General Store, opened 1827 but unfortunately closed in the middle of last year, and in its later days became a wonderful deli where I got, way back in 2012 when this picture was taken, one of the best and most memorable burgers I've ever had. I love the signage here! This store is located just off of route 80, and is just across the highway from a beautiful scenic lookout . When we finish all the stores that we're going to see here in New Jersey, I'll do a Streetside Sights & Scenes feature of all my pictures that I've collected from around the state and I do hope to give any out-of-state readers the clear picture that New Jersey isn't all oil refineries and crowded overpasses -- which it certainly isn't. We have beautiful ci...

Dale's Market Owner: Ed Campbell Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  66 NJ-94, Blairstown, NJ Photographed:  January 2021 It's time for our second (and final) Dale's Market, and you can see Branchville here ; and it's also time for our third (and final) Blairstown store! This 5500 square foot store is a great little supermarket in downtown Blairstown and doesn't seem to be all that hurt by the large ACME (and former A&P, which moved from up route 94 ). Dale's is a full supermarket, despite its small size. We have produce in the first aisle with deli and butcher on the back wall, with frozen and dairy on the right side. This store feels a little more like a traditional supermarket than Branchville, which feels like an overgrown general store. That's not to say that this is a less fun place, or that it's a large store. Nice chalkboard signage for the departments! As we see, there's a little bit of everything in here, and there are roug...

We've finished Sussex County and we are moving on to the next group of northwestern/central western  NJ counties! This area is so sparsely populated that, in fact, the population of the two counties combined is roughly the same as the combined populations of the cities of Paterson and Passaic (in Passaic County) -- with roughly  73 times  the land area. That's why we're going to spend a little under three weeks covering most, but not all, of the supermarkets in these counties. Note that Warren County, which is the northern one in the map of the two above, does not contain Warren Township where we saw a  Kings  and an  ACME  a while back. We'll be starting in Blairstown which is just about 12 miles due west of  Andover  as the crow flies, then winding through Hackettstown (the second-largest town in Warren County, population 9700), Mansfield, Independence, Belvidere (the county seat of Warren County), Washington, Hampton (our first stop in Hun...

Universal Food Markets Owner: Vishu Patel Opened:  between 1997 and 2000 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  2325 Elizabeth Ave, Rahway, NJ Photographed:  December 2021 It's time for our fourth visit to Universal Food Markets in Rahway! There's still no updates to the signage outside, with no sign installed on the storefront yet nor a replacement for the sign facing Elizabeth Avenue, which looks a fair bit older than it actually is. But the signage inside is nearly finished, and the store continues to look better. We last saw the store in December  with the interior renovation moving along nicely but no signage inside at the time. There's still no exterior signage, and this area which I still assume is going to be the new entrance is not open yet. They may be wanting to put up the new signage here at the same time that the doors are installed. One piece of evidence that the entrance is going to be removed from where it is now, just out of frame to the left...