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Special Report: Key Food Supermarkets - Matawan, NJ

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Key Food Supermarkets
Opened: May 16, 2026
Owner: Ricky & Lenny Hernandez
Previous Tenants: none; Foodtown > CTown previously on property
Cooperative: Key Food Stores
Location: 126 Main St, Matawan, NJ
Photographed: May 28, 2026
Time for another new store from Key Food! (The mess going on in Oakland Gardens, I mean the transition going on in Oakland Gardens, is notable but doesn't actually result in the cooperative having any new stores.) Here in Matawan, which is at the far north end of the Jersey Shore -- I suppose it's not even really part of the shore -- Key Food member Ricky Hernandez has opened a new store with his son Lenny (ownership via Asbury Park Press). The Hernandezes also run Tropical supermarkets in north and central Jersey, and are preparing to open a SuperFresh in Long Branch.
At just 7700 square feet, this Key Food is truly tiny. That didn't stop the designers from going all-out here in the produce department, though! It's a small, but very nice, store right in downtown Matawan. You know what else is in Matawan? Key Food Stores' headquarters, just a couple minutes' drive up the road from this store. They moved from Staten Island a few years ago. Key Food doesn't have much of a presence in this part of central Jersey, but they are expanding with a few new stores here and there.
The store is an L-shape, with produce and the registers at the end of the long part of the L. Some extremely short grocery aisles run side-to-side across that part, with meat and cold cuts on the right side and grocery shelving on the left side. Dairy is at the back of the store, with frozen foods in the back-right corner of the short part of the L. Deli and bakery (yes, there's even an in-store bakery) are roughly at the corner of the L. There's parking in the back. so one entrance/exit goes out to the street and the other goes to the side driveway that leads to the parking lot.
This is the only supermarket technically in Matawan, but there's a large ShopRite and Stop & Shop in Aberdeen a little over a mile away, along with Livoti's.
When I say short grocery aisles, I mean short. Below you can see the entire length of the aisles. This is a strangely-shaped space, but they've certainly made the most of it.
Key Food (under different owners) has previously tried and failed in Manalapan, which is a little under ten miles southwest. That was an even smaller store. Prior to the construction of the building that contains this Key Food, there was a Foodtown-turned-CTown on this site. Using Google Street Views, you can also see that the building was completed around 2021, but it took years for the supermarket to be finished.
Here's a look at the tiny pasta aisle -- but that's definitely enough to get something to cook for dinner.
All the way at the back of the store is dairy, which lines the back wall.
The aisles in this back part, which run front-to-back instead of side-to-side, are slightly longer.
And frozen foods are on the right side of the store at the end of the L.
Deli and bakery is on the inside of the L.
It's hard to tell exactly how much is being baked in-store, but at least some is: I bought a loaf of bread that was still warm.
There's a sign for sushi, but no sushi just yet. A few other features are promised but not yet offered, like bulk coffee -- there's a section for it, but it's not yet stocked.
Now, looking back up to the front of the store via the cold cuts and meat department...
Looking towards the back...
It's hard to know whether this store will do well. There's definitely something to be said for a downtown small store with everything for an easy shopping trip without going out to the highway, but in suburban New Jersey, it's extremely difficult to compete with the ShopRite and Stop & Shop nearby, which are both more than ten times the size of this store. We'll see how it goes, but they've certainly done a good job of including everything they possibly could in this location.
Here's a look at this weekend's other posts!

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