Grocery Archaeology

Original Tenant: ACME Markets Address: 3035 US-46, Parsippany, NJ Opened:  1960s Closed:  1991-92 Later Tenants:  Michaels > subdivided Photographed:  June 2020 Today's second store, which is just to the north of our first stop at Subzi Mandi , was also one of the very early stores that Acme Style covered back in 2009 . Since then, the 21,000 square foot building went from a Michaels arts and crafts store to a Blink Fitness and a few smaller tenants as Michaels moved up the highway into a former A&P . The exterior, as we see, was also given a light refresh with a new coat of paint at the same time. This window, done to match the store's interior , would have displayed the sale circulars for the week to customers before they entered. Here's a look across the front of the store, which looks to have been altered since the ACME days (those windows look larger than ACME's would have been, and we can see the differences in brick). As Acme Style points out, the ent...

Original Tenant: Food Fair Address: 1157 US-46, Parsippany, NJ Opened: likely 1960s Closed: 1970s Later Tenants: Pantry Pride (1970s) > Pathmark (likely 70s-2015) > Target (2018-present) Photographed: January 2020 Our third store of the day is a very interesting one! It looks like this store was built as a Food Fair in the 1960s with the mall, which also had an A&P at the other end. It later became a Pantry Pride when Food Fair converted most of their stores to that banner, later selling to Pathmark probably around the 80s. The Food Fair also probably was paired with a JM Fields department store. It's hard to tell exactly where the supermarket originally ended, but the space currently occupied by Target is roughly 75,000 square feet and the Pathmark space was probably around that size or slightly smaller. Lots more information and a great picture of Pathmark in business here . Don't forget to check out today's final post at the Patel Brothers across the str...

Original Tenant: A&P Address: 1099 US-46, Parsippany, NJ Opened: 1960s Closed: 1980s Later Tenants: CompUSA > Michaels Photographed: May 2020 We are moving across the highway from today's other post, the Patel Brothers , to two former supermarkets here in the Troy Hills Shopping Center! The first is this former centennial A&P, now extensively renovated but still recognizable way back there behind this new facade. The store is 17,000 square feet, placing it right in line with contemporary centennial stores. There was also a Food Fair, later Pantry Pride, at the other end of the mall which you can check out here . Tomorrow we continue to move west along 46 to our next store over on The Independent Edition !

Original Tenant: Stop & Shop Address: 790 US-46, Parsippany, NJ Opened:  1960s Closed:  1982 Later Tenants:  Kings Food Markets (1982-1983) > ShopRite (mid 1980s-2000) Photographed:  March 2020 Much like nearby West Caldwell , just four miles east, this mall was constructed as a Stop & Shop/Bradlees combination. The Stop & Shop was roughly 33,000 square feet with the Bradlees, now Home Depot, just shy of 100,000 square feet. When Stop & Shop left New Jersey in the early 80s, like West Caldwell, the supermarket was sold to Kings but unlike the others, the Kings lasted barely a year. Soon after closing, Sunrise ShopRite (owners of the West Caldwell store ) took over the space, then constructed a huge 64,000 square foot location just next door in 2000 (now expanded to 82,000 square feet). Kings, by the way, is based here in Parsippany where we'll be spending our next week or so. Our other post today is a small independent store in an outparcel of ...