Grocery Archaeology

Original Tenant: unknown Address: 36 Central Ave, Passaic, NJ Opened: unknown Closed: unknown Later Tenants: R&S Strauss Auto Stores > Passaic Fresh Market (2016-2018) > Dollar General Photographed: July 2020 I think it's very likely that this 12,000 square foot space started out as a supermarket originally, but by 2007 it was an R&S Strauss Auto Store. In 2016, the space was taken over by a store called the Passaic Fresh Market , which unfortunately closed just two years later. Today, the space is a Dollar General. I'd bet that it was just a very tough location with so many grocery stores within a two-block radius (including our next four stores) along with a Compare Foods two blocks south and the CTown just two blocks south of that. Tomorrow's store, over on The Independent Edition , is just across the street from this one!

Original Tenant: Pathmark Address: 1510 US-46, Woodland Park, NJ Opened:  1970s Closed:  2010 Later Tenants:  Fairway Market (2011-2020) > Amazon Fresh coming soon Photographed:  March 2012 & December 2020 We're heading just west of Paterson to visit the  very first supermarket I ever photographed ! This was taken back in 2012, when this Fairway had just opened in a former Pathmark. That's four years before I really started to get serious about supermarket photography. I honestly can't remember what made me photograph this store, but I did. The Fairway closed in the chain's spring 2020 bankruptcy and was taken over by Amazon along with the Paramus location. The Pathmark closed soon after A&P acquired the Pathmark chain, given that there was a newer and larger A&P just next door. Fairway came in the following year, and lasted all the way until the chain's bankruptcy in summer 2020. I revisited the location in December 2020, to see the s...

Original Tenant: A&P Address: 1030 US-46, Clifton, NJ Opened: 1960s Closed: 1980s Later Tenants: Unclaimed Freight Photographed: July 2020 Very quick look today just next door to the former ACME and Filstop here on 46 in Clifton. Acme Style actually has a great look, more in-depth, at this store on their ACME coverage here . I was running a bit late that day and needed to get back home so I only had a quick shot here. We have two more stores here in Clifton, but first we're going to make a stop out to the west in Woodland Park on The Market Report ! Stay tuned.

Original Tenant: Filstop Supermarket Address: 1006 US-46, Clifton, NJ Opened:  2019 Closed:  2020 Later Tenants:  vacant Photographed:  July 2020 In late 2019, Jersey City Filipino supermarket Filstop opened a second, 16,000 square foot location in Clifton. Hailed as a major Filipino superstore (representing an ethnic group that makes up New Jersey's second-largest Asian immigrant group), the store closed along with the original location just five months after it opened. As we'll see, money seemed to be a bit short in outfitting this location, with quite a bit of it coming secondhand from a closed Pathmark. Plus, the store was practically invisible, tucked away in the back corner of the strip mall containing a former ACME . The store had a large food court along the right side wall, with the grill station still mostly intact a few months after the store closed. As we'll see, though, the majority of the fixtures are gone. You can see a bit of the decor, which is ...

Original Tenant: ACME Markets Address: 1006 US-46, Clifton, NJ Opened: 1959 Closed:  2004 Later Tenants:  Big Lots Photographed:  July 2020 As we head out of Paterson, we'll be moving through Clifton to the south, Woodland Park to the west, and then into Passaic, the secondary city in this part of the county. Our first Clifton store is this former ACME, which Acme Style has covered extensively here . So I won't go too far into it. One thing I remain unsure of, though, is whether the space that's now Big Lots was the extent of the ACME, or whether it also took up the space now occupied by Dollar Tree. Just next to the Dollar Tree to the left was a small ethnic market, which we are also seeing today. Check it out here ! And up next, we're not going very far away... just to the west to see another former supermarket tomorrow.

Original Tenant:  A&P Address:  82 E 15th St, Bunker Hill, Paterson, NJ Opened:  1960s Closed:  1980s Later Tenants:  US Post Office > Dollar General Photographed:  August 2019 Today's former A&P is at the other end of a small strip mall from a  Bravo  we're touring on The Market Report today. Thanks to JoshAustin610 for the historical info! Until around 2012, this building was a post office, with Dollar General opening in part of it then. But most importantly, if you click on the picture to zoom in, you can see a circle in the center of the facade. This is where A&P's older logo would've been, and it's a pretty safe assumption that this store never got the sunrise treatment . Interesting that this 15,000 square foot store wasn't a Centennial model, given its construction during that period, though it's clearly similar. It's also obvious where the windows along the front wall have been bricked over, probably ...

Original Tenant: Pathmark Address: 22 Maple Ave, Fair Lawn, NJ Opened:  1970s Closed:  2015 Later Tenants:  ShopRite (coming soon) Photographed:  December 2020 Yesterday we saw the ShopRite on River Road here in Fair Lawn, which outlasted this 53,000 square foot store. Closing in A&P's final bankruptcy of 2015-16, the store was later announced to be the future location of the ShopRite of Fair Lawn. As we can see, little progress had been made on the property as of December 2020. Unfortunately, all our pictures are going to have to be from here across the street because the entire property and its sidewalk were fully snow-covered and the property was also completely fenced-off. The signs remain, having been painted over in black... Interestingly, we can just barely make out the outline of the Pathmark stripe and the word "super" under the black paint in this picture, something that was invisible to me in person. Or maybe I just need new glasses. Plenty of label...