The Independent Edition

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 Mar...

Route 10 Farmers Market Owner: unknown Opened:  2010 Cooperative:  none Location:  577 Mount Pleasant Ave, Livingston, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Our final store here in the Essex County group is one we've seen before , and we're returning not because anything has changed, but just because when I came by last time the store was closed for the night and I couldn't get inside. The stores run by the Farmers Market Group  really aren't my favorite -- the prices are very, very cheap but the quality just isn't there. Compared to an operator like Giant Farmers , it's obvious the FMG folks are getting second-rate products. Most of the store is dedicated to produce, with a deli on the back wall and some packaged dairy in the back corner. There are also some basic groceries but that's not the focus on this store. Here's an example of what the FMG stores do all the time. They'll get a large shipment of some item that's about to go bad, like these pack...