Citi Grocer - Elizabeth, NJ

Citi Grocer

Opened: December 2015

Owner: Eddie Trujillo

Previous Tenants: Food Fair > Pantry Pride > non-grocery tenants

Cooperative: none

Location: 119 Spring St, Elizabeth, NJ

Photographed: January 7, 2026

Before we begin, just a heads up: this was originally posted in August 2019, but was rewritten with new photos in March 2026. Now for the post! One look at the outside of this Citi Grocer makes it clear that this is a relatively new store, but it actually dates back to the 1960s when it was constructed as a Food Fair supermarket. The approximately 40,000 square foot building was later converted to a clothing discounter named Daffy Dan's, which later became just Daffy's. When all their stores closed around 2012, this one was taken over by the owners of another nearby supermarket. And in late 2015, the Supremo Foods chain returned this building to its original purpose, opening Citi Grocer.

Walking in, this store definitely has a strong wow factor. I mean, the colorful walls, the high, dark ceilings, the bright but focused lighting. It looks fantastic. It also feels very spacious, although it is one of the larger supermarkets in Elizabeth. We're about a mile and a half outside of Newark Airport here (as an aside, about half of Newark Airport is actually in Elizabeth).

You enter on the front wall to a produce department in the front-right corner. Packaged meats are in the back-right corner with dairy and cold cuts facing, and service meat and seafood counters are at the back of the produce/meat department. Dairy lines the rest of the back wall, with frozen in the last aisle on the left side. Deli and bakery are in the front-left corner.

Below, you can see the entrance/exit foyer, with produce extending beyond it on the front wall. Ten years out from this store's opening, it still feels practically brand-new.

Here's a look towards the back of the produce/meat aisle. The lighting was replaced fairly recently, and originally it was track lighting affixed to the same brackets. Supremo has replaced lighting in most of its stores recently, including Elizabeth.

Juice and cold cuts are opposite the produce and meat departments.

About 2/3 of the population of Elizabeth is Hispanic, which explains both the lean towards Latino products here and the bilingual department signage.

Like at Supremo, there are large service butcher and seafood departments at the back. You can see the layout here is nearly identical to the Elizabeth Supremo, which only makes sense since they're the same owners.

This is the only Citi Grocer, although Supremo owns about a dozen other stores. They're an independent chain, and are supplied by UNFI with Essential Everyday products.

The store looks just as shiny as when it first opened, and the dramatic lighting and bold colors help it stay fresh.

This is the only Supremo store with a dedicated bakery counter. This is also on the larger side for Supremo stores, and that combined with the proximity to the Elizabeth Supremo might have prompted the use of the other brand name here.

Although I was here around dusk at the end of the day, these large windows on the front wall let in a lot of natural light.

Customer service is over between the produce department and the registers...

I remember my very first visit back in the spring of 2016. That was at the very beginning of my supermarket travels, and this was so completely different from most other places I'd been that it opened my eyes to the world of independent grocers. So Citi Grocer has long been one of my favorite stores, and it's particularly nice to see how well it's held up over the years.

This post was rewritten on March 30, 2026 with new photos.