Grocery Archaeology

Walking around my neighborhood, I found this bag that someone had put out with the garbage. Unfortunately, it had probably been kept in a basement or something as it was damp and mildewy. My asthma would not have taken kindly to it. It's hard to tell exactly which Foodtown it came from, as my town hasn't had a Foodtown for probably 30 years at least. It's entirely possible it came from that store, as it shows the pre-1996 logo, but it's also possible it came from the still-in-business Foodtown a few towns to the north which is popular among some residents of my town too.

Yesterday we took a look at three different bags in which circular ads would be mailed to people's homes. This first bag features an advertisement for Twin City Supermarkets, a local chain in northern NJ. This bag was printed and distributed about 5 years ago. Since then, the Bridgewater and Jersey City locations have been converted to the Aqui Market banner and a new Aqui Market has opened in Califon. See our coverage of Califon , Sip Avenue , Garfield Avenue , and Elizabeth on The Market Report. The rest of the stores listed on this bag will be coming soon to the blog -- yes, I've photographed them all, along with more detailed coverage of Califon! And this bag for Supremo Food Market. This bag has long confused me, mostly because I don't actually know how old it is. But I'd assumed Plainfield and Irvington opened around 2005-2007 (with Elizabeth being the first and Jersey City being the second). I don't think the bag is actually that old so that means they were...

I don't know how common this is in other areas of the country, but in northern NJ, many houses receive these bags weekly filled with local supermarket, drugstore, and discount store circulars. The bags themselves are typically branded with the logos of the stores whose circulars are included inside. This one dates back to around 2014, with A&P, Food Basics, and Pathmark logos featured. A slightly different pre-2016 bag, with an old A&J Seabra Supermarkets (now Seabra Foods) logo displayed prominently at the top. This one is printed with black instead of blue ink and features the Pathmark Sav-A-Center logo along with the logo of Super Xtra , an independent store in Newark which has since closed. (Additional coverage of that store will be coming.) Tomorrow we have three more circular bags with store-specific advertisements!