The Independent Edition

Fresh Central Grocery Owner: unknown Opened:  2020 Cooperative:  none Location:  252 Central Ave, The Heights, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 The first store we're going to be taking a look at today is Fresh Central Grocery, a small grocery store with produce, meat, dairy, some general groceries, and a focus on Indian and Asian products. The store was previously Singh Farm from about 2012 to 2017, Tikhi Mirchi (which appeared to be owned by Singh Farm) from 2017 to 2019, and then Akshar Grocery & Restaurant from 2019 to 2020. I didn't get to go inside any of those previous tenants, but Fresh Central is doing a great job with the 2400 square foot space. Although small, the store does have a little bit of everything. A nice large produce department takes up the front half of the store, with three grocery aisles in the back and a meat counter at the back of the store. As we can see here, the store is small but nicely stocked and organized! Check out t...

Young's Farm Owner: Lee Young Son Opened:  1995 Cooperative:  none Location:  294 Central Ave, The Heights, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Our next stop here along Central Avenue is Young's Farm! This is a small greengrocer shop that also sells some other items (grocery, dairy, and meat). The store is roughly 2500 square feet, making it very similar to the closed Nin's Market we saw just up the street. Our second store today is a former ACME in the next block south of this, so check it out on Grocery Archaeology here . And tomorrow is our last double-post day, with a small independent grocery store here on The Independent Edition and a look at the neighborhood's chain supermarket over on The Market Report !

Sweet Pineapple Fruit & Vegetable Owner: unknown Opened:  ca. 2012 Cooperative:  none Location:  370 Central Ave, The Heights, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Opened in 2011 or 2012 in what appears to be part of a former West Coast Video location is this small greengrocer shop, Sweet Pineapple Fruit & Vegetable. It's just a block and a half south of Los Aztecas and about two blocks north of the former Nin's Market on Central Avenue. And tomorrow, we have two more stores just to the south along Central Avenue, one here on The Independent Edition and one over on Grocery Archaeology !

Los Aztecas Deli Grocery Owner: unknown Opened:  2016 Cooperative:  none Location:  401 Central Ave, The Heights, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Our first store, the farthest to the north here on Central Ave in The Heights, is a tiny deli-grocery store that looked interesting to me. Now I regret not going in, since it's so small but it looked through the windows like they packed a lot of food in there. The store opened around 2016 in what actually was previously a Chinese restaurant, and doesn't even appear to have a Google Maps listing. See our second store for the day here , and our third  over on Grocery Archaeology , and tomorrow we have another post each here on The Independent Edition and Grocery Archaeology !

Value Fresh Market Owner: Maliq Jata Opened:  2017 Cooperative:  none Location:  729 Secaucus Ave Photographed:  December 2020 Moving just 600 feet west of yesterday's Fine Fare to the Value Fresh Market over the border into Jersey City! This 5900 square foot store is less than half the size of Fine Fare, but much newer and more upscale. Four years after its opening, it seems to have found a niche in the market here and looks like it does a good business. It replaced a Bravo Supermarket that later became the independent Plaza Supermarket. The space has been completely remodeled inside for a more upscale positioning. The first aisle has produce on the right side and in islands in the middle, with a service deli and butcher at the back. Dairy and frozen line the left side wall of the store, with two grocery aisles in between. Not only was there a fairly healthy crowd around the store (though fewer people than Fine Fare), there was lots of merchandise including a lot ...

Extra Supermarket Owner: Mitchel Lopez Opened:  2001 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  360 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Bergen-Lafayette, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 We're returning to the Extra Supermarket here in the Bergen-Lafayette section of the southern part of Jersey City after first seeing it back in September 2018 . As I mentioned in that post, the store was just beginning a renovation which finished sometime in 2019, I believe. We'll be taking a look at the interior in a second, but first, check out that updated sign! Much easier to read than the red-on-brick that was here previously. Moving into the store, the interior is looking better than ever. The retrofitted Citi Market decor we saw previously has been removed and replaced with a much more modern decor package with a lot of Jersey City character. The layout remains the same, with produce on the left side of the grand aisle and deli/seafood in an island on the right side, bake...

Asian Food Markets Owner: Jon Chen Opened:  2013 Cooperative:  none Location:  701 NJ-440, Hackensack River Waterfront, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 It's time for our first tour of an Asian Food Markets store! We've previously taken a look at the North Plainfield store, and I commented on how I've driven by it but never actually gone in. Well, I've still never actually gone into that one but I've been into multiple other locations including this one here in Jersey City. The 25,000 square foot big-box space is at the far end of the Hudson Mall, and was previously a 6th Avenue Electronics store that closed around 2012 with Asian Food Markets moving in the following year. We enter to a very large produce department that takes up the front 1/4 of the store or so. Because the store is narrow and very deep, the departments are kind of stacked one behind the other instead of side to side. So we're looking at hot food and bakery on the right side wall ...