The Independent Edition

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...

Livoti's Old World Market Owner: John Livoti Opened:  2021 Cooperative:  Associated Supermarket Group Location:  200 Mounts Corner Dr, Freehold, NJ Photographed:  August 21, 2022 Yesterday we documented some of the changes and, shall we say, room for improvement at Kings Food Markets . Today I want to show you the latest location of a very successful gourmet supermarket chain, Livoti's Old World Market of Monmouth County, NJ. We have previously seen their Aberdeen , Englishtown , and Middletown locations, and in spring 2021, the chain opened a new location in Freehold.  This store is in a former Top Tomato Superstore, which had a brief stint in New Jersey and has since shrunk significantly (including abruptly closing all of their New Jersey stores). Before it was Top Tomato, it was a very short-lived ACME. The supermarket is practically next door to a Stop & Shop in a former Norkus Foodtown, too. Livoti's appears to have taken a smaller footprint than the...

Universal Food Markets Owner: Vishu Patel Opened: between 1997 and 2000 Cooperative: Key Food Stores Location: 2325 Elizabeth Ave, Rahway, NJ Photographed: June 2022 We return to the Rahway Universal, again, for another update with the renovation very, very close to finished! We last saw the store back in January , when I said the same thing. But there was just one thing stopping me from saying the remodel was done. Before we head inside, we see the updated signage and renovated storefront facing Elizabeth Avenue. I actually do like the new logo and signage, but why did they put dark green lettering on a dark brown background with no outline or anything? I don't get that, but the store does look good. Here's an overview of the whole place... As we can see, the store looks way better than it did previously. It's only barely recognizable as the same building. Now let's just take a moment to appreciate how far we've come. In the last year or so, this store has been...

Roebling Town Market Owner: Manjit Singh Opened:  2003 Cooperative:  IGA Location:  1275 Hornberger Ave, Roebling, Florence Township, NJ Photographed:  January 2021 Ever heard of Roebling, NJ? Probably not, but the unincorporated community within Burlington County's Florence Township is notable for more than this beautifully preserved A&P centennial. The town was the site of the Roebling Steel Mill (same family that owned the Roebling complex in Trenton where the Food Bazaar is today), and that mill was responsible for the steel used to build the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and others. The community has a population of just about 4000 and the core town area is only six blocks by two blocks, but it's a fascinating little place. I wanted so badly to walk around, but I had a lot of stops the day I came by the Roebling Town Market. If I ever get the chance, I'd love to return and explore the steel town's Main Street , the Roebling Museum's collection ...

  We are almost done with the Trenton area but before we can move on entirely we're going to spend a few days looking at some stores south of the city. We're going to start in Hamilton for a few stops in the Broad Street Park and Yardville sections before moving through Bordentown and then Florence. It's only ten stores in six days, so not a whole lot to see in this area (I live in northern New Jersey, so the farther we get from home, the less dense my coverage is simply because it's harder for me to get to). But there's some good stuff in these last few Trenton-area posts. So come back tomorrow while we do all of the South Broad Street stores at once, with two posts on  Grocery Archaeology  and one on The Market Report ! P.S.  Here's  some updates at Kings you might want to check out.

Hamilton Farm Owner: Dong Lee Opened:  1999 Cooperative:  none Location:  372 NJ-33, Mercerville, Hamilton, NJ Photographed:  January 2021 The roughly 19,000 square foot A&P of Mercerville, located here at 372 NJ-33 in the Mercerville section of Hamilton Township, was built in the early 1960s and was later expanded to roughly 30,000 square feet. At the other end of the property was an ACME , also constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and a strip mall was later constructed between them. In 1983, A&P became SuperFresh before closing in 1995 (ACME closed two years prior and moved to their new location about 3/4 of a mile east). In 1999, the SuperFresh space was subdivided with the current tenant, Hamilton Farm, taking about 12,000 square feet. Unfortunately, the exterior has been remodeled from the earlier A&P/SuperFresh facade (see here ) and the interior doesn't seem to have any remnants of SuperFresh either. The Hamilton Farm is a pleasant and s...