Grocery Archaeology

Original Tenant:  A&P Address:  17 Hoffman Blvd, Ampere, East Orange, NJ Opened:  1950s Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Megna Photographed:  July 2020 I was thrilled to stumble upon this store while driving from Orange to Belleville (and yes, I do mean stumble; it took me several trips around the block before I could get a parking space and was going the right way down the one way street). A 6,000 square foot A&P, this store even came with a parking lot which has since been walled in and converted to a storage yard by the stone importer. Ampere has always been the most affluent neighborhood in East Orange, meaning that when this store was built it was one of the most desirable places to live in Essex County. Though the neighborhood doesn't today have a supermarket, it's likely served by the large SuperFresh Food World (formerly Pathmark) just to the north in Belleville, which we'll be touring in a few days. First, though, we're g...

Original Tenant:  Mayfair Foodtown Address:  12 Sussex Ave, East Orange, NJ Opened:  unknown Closed:  1990s Later Tenants:  99 Cent & Discount Depot > Planet Fitness Photographed:  July 2020 We're heading to the south of interstate 280 (and to the east of the Parkway) to see this former supermarket on the eastern border of East Orange. Now if you can believe it... this former Mayfair Foodtown (which may have been built as a Food Fair, I'm not sure) actually stayed abandoned until around 2010 when 99 Cent & Discount Depot moved in and fixed up the place. Check out these Google Maps street views from 2007 here and here . Foodtow! But seriously... I'm pretty clearly seeing this logo on that pylon. Could that logo have been up all the way to the end? That means it was still sporting that logo while the rest of the Foodtowns moved on to this logo , this logo , and some maybe even to the current one . Today, the store and its accomp...

Original Tenant:  Village ShopRite Address:  407 Main St, East Orange, NJ Opened:  1960s Closed:  1987 Later Tenants:  C.H. Martin > Lot Stop Photographed:  July 2020 The earlier Village ShopRite in East Orange was here all the way at the eastern end of town. It was also -- not accidentally -- located directly across the street from a Kings Food Market . In 1987, this location was replaced by the newly built ShopRite of Brick Church downtown according to JoshAustin610 . A question for any folks from East Orange... did this 6700 square foot store with no parking lot really survive all the way until 1987? My theory is that this store didn't make it that long, but instead was replaced in 1976 with a former Good Deal at 563 Central Ave , which then moved 11 years later. Village, to my knowledge, bought several Good Deal stores in the 70s, which would make a bit more sense to me. Anyway, our next and final stop on Main Street is the indepen...

Original Tenant:  unknown Address:  407 Main St, East Orange, NJ Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Lee's International Food Market Photographed:  July 2020 Lee's International Food Market had a store here at 407 Main St in East Orange, but moved a while back to 401 Main at the other end of the same building. Check it out here over on The Independent Edition . Our next stop is a former supermarket just to the east here on Grocery Archaeology!

Original Tenant:  A&P Address:  411 Main St, East Orange, NJ Opened:  1950s Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  unknown Photographed:  July 2020 Today's former supermarket is towards the eastern end of East Orange, near the border of Newark, where we'll be seeing our next six stores before we head into Newark itself. There are at least two former A&P locations here in East Orange, but interestingly enough they aren't really on the radar of most of us supermarket fans. In fact, JoshAustin610 doesn't even list either, nor does A&P Preservation . Both of those sites have an immense amount of retail history, and I can't exactly claim more knowledge than them -- I just happened upon this one and the next one, which we'll see a bit later. Other than the window arrangement (which has since been boarded up) and the peak in the middle of the storefront, this location is an exceedingly plain 6500 square foot building. This makes me thi...

Original Tenant:  Kings Food Markets Address:  390 Main St, East Orange, NJ Opened:  1952 Closed:  Unknown Later Tenants:  Tropical Sun Supermarket (2001- ) One of the earlier Kings Food Markets opened here in East Orange in 1952. The chain had been founded in 1936 in nearby Summit. Kings has long been an upscale chain catering to an affluent suburban clientele, making this location in East Orange (one of the lowest-income and highest-crime cities in the state) a slightly strange choice. However, East Orange was once an extremely wealthy city. The construction of Interstate 280 through the city contributed to its decline in the 1950s. Kings apparently thought the location could support one of their supermarkets early in that decade. The flat-roof sections to the right and in the back appear to be additions. Today, the store's main entrance is in the back, which faces the parking lot. It appears that the original entrance faced the street, altho...