Village Marketplace - South Orange, NJ

Village Marketplace
Opening: TBA

Owner: unknown

Previous Tenants: Village Super Market > ShopRite > Village Market > Garden of Eden Marketplace > Ashley Marketplace

Cooperative: unknown

Location: 1 S Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ

Photographed: September 5, 2025

We return to downtown South Orange Village where the former Ashley Marketplace has been closed for renovations and it's soon to reopen as Village Marketplace. Ashley Marketplace had a several-years-long decline before finally closing in March, and now it's soon to reopen "sometime after Labor Day" under this new brand. It's not clear whether the ownership of the store changed during this transition, but the store is getting some much-needed renovation inside.

This store is located right at the train station in bustling downtown South Orange, a small suburban town just outside Newark. There's definitely a market for a grocer here, but Ashley couldn't execute what it needed to be. There's so little information about Village Marketplace out there that it's hard to tell exactly what the new store is going to be like, but I'm hopeful. Incidentally, I wonder whether the owners know that this was originally Village Market, which later became Village Super Market, which later became Village ShopRite (which owns about 30 ShopRite stores, and a handful of Fairway and Gourmet Garage stores, but this was the original location way back in 1937).

The windows facing South Orange Avenue aren't covered, and you can get a good look inside some of them. The space has been cleaned up very nicely while keeping some of the attractive wood that made Ashley (and Garden of Eden before it) a very appealing supermarket. Here's a good look inside Ashley when the decline began, and here's roughly the area we're looking at below. As you can see, the ceiling and some lighting have been redone, the flooring has been redone -- a much-needed change -- and it's a bit hard to tell what the new layout will be. It does look like this was a fairly extensive renovation, though, even though many things appear to be in the same places.

It does look like they're still many weeks if not months out from opening, but it also looks like they're making good progress. I'll be back to see what all is happening as it progresses, and in the meantime, be sure to see today's other post at a new SuperFresh -- plus check out yesterday's big price comparison across the northeast!