The Independent Edition

Superfood Fresh Supermarket Owner: unknown Opened:  2018 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  704 W Emmaus Ave, Allentown, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 We're here at the Superfood Fresh Supermarket in Allentown -- one of two that started as Superfood Marketplace stores, then appear to have been sold to the owners of Twin City and other supermarkets, and rebranded Superfood Fresh. When we were here last, it was a Superfood Marketplace . Not much has changed, but I wanted to get a few updated interior pictures nonetheless. As we can see, maintenance at this store has been excellent. It's extremely clean and well-stocked. And even with the high ceiling, no lights were burnt out. Speaking of that, here's a few better and newer pictures of the high pitched-roof ceiling. And a picture of the mural on the front wall, which still has the poorly-added Superfood Marketplace logo over what used to say Valley Farm Market. Worth mentioning that the other remaining ...

Super Exito Supermarket Owner: Jay Patel Opened:  2007 Cooperative:  Krasdale Foods Location:  218 Dayton Ave, Clifton, NJ Photographed:  January 5, 2023 After many years we're returning to the Super Exito Supermarket at Botany Village in Clifton, NJ! We saw the store back in 2018 looking cramped, cluttered, random, and chock-full of personality. It's been fairly extensively renovated, and is feeling much more spacious but has also clearly lost a lot of personality (which I might gripe about, but who cares) but -- it felt like -- a lot of selection. The outside hasn't changed at all, which is odd since the logo seen here on this storefront is not the latest Exito logo. I guess it doesn't matter all that much, though, since the store uses the CTown circular and in fact it doesn't say Exito anywhere on the circular -- or on the inside of the store, for that matter. Some helpful commenters on my original post clarified the history of the store, most importantly that i...

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...

Aqui Market Owner: Araceli Perez Opened:  2018 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  431 CR-513, Califon, NJ Photographed:  March 2020 I was very excited to report on the opening of the Aqui Market here in Califon, a borough of just 1000 people, back in 2018 with excellent pictures from a contributor. In early March of 2020, I got to visit the store for myself and was, conditionally, impressed. The owners of Aqui Market (with other locations in Jersey City and Bridgewater , along with an older JC location that closed recently) have done a beautiful job transforming this 25,000 square foot 1970s-era A&P , but execution as far as product mix and pricing leaves a bit to be desired. As far as the name of the town goes, it is thought to be a shortening of "California" but an amusing local legend says that the sign painters, having taken the train out from Dunellen with the sign's background paint, found that upon arriving in Califon the sign's background ...

Olive Tree Marketplace Owner: David Shehadeh Opened:  2016-2018 Cooperative:  Key Food Stores > Retail Grocers Group Location:  3130 NJ-10, Denville, NJ Photographed:  October 2017 We return to the 15,000 square foot Olive Tree Marketplace in Denville for the final time. These pictures were a follow-up to our original set , which were rather limited. The short-lived store on route 10 in the southern part of Denville was plagued by many of the same problems that plagued the Shehadeh brothers' Foodtown-turned-Shop Fair in Howard Beach along with their Associated > Key Food > Associated > Shop Fair > Olive Tree in Bay Ridge , which is now a dollar store. So far, the Olive Tree on Staten Island seems to barely still be in business, and the Shehadehs also own two stores on Church Ave in Flatbush ( 4121 and 2720 ) -- both of which were Associated > Key Food > Shop Fair and are now back to Associated again. I also suspect the Associated at 170 Broad...

City Supermarket Owner: Mitchel Lopez Opened:  2020 Cooperative:  Retail Grocers Group Location:  289 Bergen Blvd, Fairview, NJ Photographed:  November 2021 It's been a while, but I returned to the City Supermarket at Fair Ridge in Fairview, NJ in late November to check in and see how the store was doing. And to buy some really good feta (which I did). I found the store even better than it was the first time around . Unlike the previous owners of this store, these folks certainly know what they're doing. The product mix is better and more diverse, and pricing is definitely better too. Excellent perishables all around, and people are certainly noticing it -- the store was way busier than it was the last time I visited, and busier than it was when it was the previous tenant . The bakery and prepared foods departments were fully set up, and those two hadn't been set up at the time of my previous visit. The bakery has an excellent variety of store-made items and locally...