Grocery Archaeology

Original Tenant: Mayfair Foodtown Address: 120 Orlando Dr, Raritan, NJ Opened:  ca. 1987 Closed:  mid-1990s Later Tenants:  Edwards (mid-90s-2001) > Stop & Shop (2001-2017) Photographed:  January 2021 There's nothing like shopping at one of the Saker ShopRite superstores, and it seems Raritan customers agree. Six years after the Somerville location opened on the site of a former Pathmark, Stop & Shop announced they were closing this 51,000 square foot Raritan location just half a mile away from the new ShopRite. The store dates back to the 80s as a Mayfair Foodtown, which later became an Edwards and then a Stop & Shop, and remains vacant so far. Tucked away in the back of the Raritan Mall off of Route 206 (but largely inaccessible from the highway), this Stop & Shop had a rough time for quite a while. As early as 2012, Acme Style reported that the store was suffering from the ShopRite's opening. (They had more coverage in 2018 here .) The Hillsb...

Original Tenant: Food Fair Address: 12 Arlington Ave, Bloomfield, NJ Opened: 1950s Closed: 1970s Later Tenants: Mayfair Foodtown > Edwards > 99 Cent & Discount Depot Photographed: June 2020 We're returning to this store just around the corner from yesterday's ALDI . We first saw this store back in April 2019 (holy cow, that was two years ago already) and I linked to Styertowne, who has fantastic coverage of this location here . I wanted to get back to visit this store myself, if only for my own collection! Another shot of the storefront. I love this facade but unfortunately the owners have let it fall into disrepair. Not only is the paint peeling off the arches, the arches themselves (which are actually wood, not steel, in this location; perhaps it was an early variation) are beginning to disintegrate. As Styertowne mentions, the interior has been recently remodeled and functions as a supercenter for the area, with everything from furniture to groceries and home...