The Independent Edition

Food Depot Supermarkets Owner: Orfilio Chaviano and Nick Gonzalez Opened:  June 30, 2023 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  325 Washington Ave, Belleville, NJ Photographed:  July 2, 2023 We are back at the Belleville Food Depot to check it out! The 12,000 square foot, Krasdale-affiliated store opened on Friday 6/30 in a former Walgreens that was originally built as an ACME. Food Depot has extensively renovated the interior and exterior of this store, and we saw it about two weeks ago almost finished with the final touches being put on. The store is in its soft opening phase, and as we'll see it's very very close to complete. There are some price tags that need to be added and a few sections of an empty shelf here and there, but it's basically ready. As we can see above, the store feels much larger than it is and feels like a complete supermarket, not like a little store in an old drugstore. Produce lines the right side of the first aisle, with meat on the left...

Food Depot Supermarkets Owner: Orfilio Chaviano and Nick Gonzalez Opening:  2023 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  325 Washington Ave, Belleville, NJ Photographed:  June 14, 2023 Food Depot Supermarkets is preparing to open its third store, joining existing locations in Newark and Kearny. The Kearny store is quite nice although much smaller than Newark, and I've photographed it but haven't quite gotten to post it yet. Food Depot is also rumored to be working on a fourth location, in the former Western Beef in East Orange, but I'm not clear on how close to opening that store is, or if it's even happening. More on that here . This store of roughly 10,000 square feet was built in 1942 as an ACME which closed in the 1980s, and was then a Walgreens for a long time before closing around 2020 to be replaced by a new store at 175 Washington, about a third of a mile south, on a property originally housing a ShopRite turned Pathmark, then an Associated, then the Motor...

Food Depot Supermarkets Owner: Orfilio Chaviano and Nick Gonzalez Opening:  not yet announced Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  1 Main St, East Orange, NJ Photographed:  June 14, 2023 and July 25, 2021 Well, it's not the greatest picture (just out of a bus window) but here's a look at what will soon be the Food Depot in East Orange. The store was for a long time the Western Beef , although the store closed around 2020 and a banner went up on the old building announcing Food Depot was coming soon, a local chain with locations in Newark , Kearny, and Belleville coming soon . While there hasn't been any signage installed subsequently -- and unlike Belleville, there's nothing on the Food Depot website about this location -- there's been substantial renovation progressing around the building. The shot above is from just a few days ago but I realized I had photographed the store pretty extensively during its major construction but never posted the pictures. Those a...

Food Depot Supermarkets Owner: Nick Gonzalez Opened:  2012 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  75 1st St, Central Ward, Newark, NJ Photographed:  July 2021 We return to Newark's Central Ward to see some updates at the Food Depot Supermarket! This store opened in 2012 in what had been an indoor flea market but going back long ago was a Foodtown and then a Good Deal supermarket. Check out my original tour here from 2018. The whole store hasn't been remodeled, but there are some significant upgrades which we'll be taking a look at now. There are two entrances. The main entrance is closer to First Street, while this one is in the back where most of the parking is. The main entrance takes us into produce... ...which looks a lot like how we saw it previously, just a bit brighter. The department has been reset with what look like a few new cases in the middle, but the ceiling has also been painted white and the flooring (throughout the store) has been replaced with a ...