Food Universe Marketplace
Opened: 2023
Welcome back to the Clifton Food Universe! (Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see my previous update.) On that post back in June, I was wondering about the renovations here that left the layout kind of odd and the flooring all broken up. I am very pleased to report that remodeling has continued and the store is looking much better these days. In other words, this remodel ended up being much more extensive than I thought it would be. That's clear here in produce, with new display tables and refrigeration, but also a nice new floor that continues throughout the store. A juice bar, bakery, hot food bar, newly-expanded deli, and seafood line the left side wall with meat on the back wall, and dairy/frozen on the right side. Packaged baked goods are in the front-right corner.
Still no decor and somewhat odd orange-yellow walls, but everything else here is looking so much better. On the last post, I wondered about why such extensive renovations would be necessary just three years after the store opened. My conclusion that time is the same as it was this time: the original build-out must have been done cheaply or poorly, meaning that basically everything had to be redone very soon thereafter. Just look at the flooring, which barely two years in required patching and started to look scuffed. Now, a new floor looks much better.
Why replace all the meat refrigeration just a few years after opening? My guess is again that the refrigeration must've been secondhand and maybe already in bad condition. Now, it's all new. The same goes for the grocery aisles, where all of the shelving has been replaced along with the lighting.
Dairy and frozen have been rearranged on the right side of the store, but I don't believe they've gotten new fixtures.
Packaged baked goods (and fresh ones made off-site) are up here in this front corner, where the previous owners had nonfoods.
An expanded customer service counter now sells a much wider variety of health and beauty items, and the front-end looks much better with new flooring and shelving. It's good to see that this store is actually getting the work it needs, rather than just little patches here and there.
That's all for Clifton (for now at least), but check out the rest of this weekend's posts here!
Opened: 2023
Owner: Teofilo de Jesus
Previous Tenants: Grand Union > Rite Aid
Cooperative: Key Food Stores
Location: 435 Lexington Ave, Clifton, NJ
Photographed: September 12, 2026
- CTown opens in Queens
- A SuperFresh in Queens and a Food Universe in New Jersey both work on remodeling
- A Bronx Fine Fare is freshly remodeled
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