The Market Report

It's not too often that I do updates of Food Bazaars, since most of the ones I visit regularly are fairly new. But we have a couple of changes at Elizabeth and Red Hook that are worth checking out... Elizabeth The above picture of the Elizabeth Food Bazaar isn't a recent one (you can see the snow), but it's a very nice sunset shot and I think it's my only picture showing the whole store from across the street. The Elizabeth Food Bazaar opened in 2016 in a former Pathmark, which actually opened in 1967 as a ShopRite and was converted the following year. You can see my extensive past coverage here , here , and here . While the store was extensively remodeled before its reopening, most of the supermarket retained its Pathmark tile (just with the signature blue Path to Savings-era portions removed). Only the grand aisle was switched to polished concrete. This month, a lot of work has been going on at the store, including refinishing all of the flooring to polished concrete...

Original Tenant:  One Stop Kosher Market / Jaspan Bros. Hardware Address:  151-155 Elmora Ave, Elmora, Elizabeth, NJ Opened:  unknown Closed:  N/A Later Tenants:  Econo Super Carniceria > La Conga Supermarket > International Supermarket Photographed:  2008 Another historical photo here in Elizabeth! Okay, 2008 isn't too historical but the pictures look a lot older than they actually are because they were shot on a disposable film camera. And, might I add, developed at the CVS just 400 yards from this store. This is a 2008 look at the One Stop Kosher Market and neighboring Jaspan Bros. Hardware (known by everyone as simply Jaspan's). The kosher market is still in business but the hardware store has been several grocery stores after it closed. Today, Jaspan's is the International Supermarket ... ...and the kosher market has a new awning. Up next we're heading towards downtown Elizabeth for a look at a small bodega on The Ind...

Food Bazaar Supermarket Owner:  Spencer An Opened:  2016 Previous Tenants:  ShopRite > Pathmark Cooperative:  none Location:  211 Elmora Ave, Elmora, Elizabeth, NJ Photographed:  August 2019 and June 2021 Ah yes, the Elizabeth Food Bazaar. The store I am obsessed with covered in a three-part store tour extravaganza back in July 2019. Check out the first , second , and third posts. I never got a great exterior picture or grand aisle picture, so here's my delayed coverage of that. These were taken on a nighttime visit back in August 2019. Why did I have to photograph this grand aisle again? Oh, I don't know. It's just the best supermarket interior of all time. Okay, maybe that's not true but it sure is very nice. And a daytime exterior picture from last month... We are heading down the street tomorrow on Grocery Archaeology , so stay tuned!

Original Tenant:  Food Fair Address:  190 Elmora Ave, Elmora, Elizabeth, NJ Opened:  1960s Closed:  1970s Later Tenants:  Pantry Pride > Mayfair Foodtown > Cost Cutters > Elmora Farmers Market/Dollar General Photographed:  ca. 2005, 2008 Repeating that first picture from our 2017 store tour of the Elmora Farmers Market , which takes up a little more than half of this former supermarket. This time, we have a little more material. Namely, a glimpse of the Food Fair arch still intact as late as 2005... Okay, yes, this is a picture of the Dunkin' Donuts outparcel. But you can see the yellow arch in the background of the image! (The Dunkin' Donuts was for a very long time a favorite hangout of my family's older members, along with the White Castle on the other side of the train tracks.) But for a better picture... Here's a look at the store under construction back in 2008. This is very interesting to me... apparently the fac...

ShopRite of Elizabeth Owner: Robert Sumas / Village Super Market Opened:  1991 Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  865 W Grand St, Elizabeth, NJ Photographed:  July 2020 The 65,000 square foot ShopRite of Elizabeth, which opened in 1994 in a former factory-turned-bowling alley (Federal Lanes, my Elizabeth native parents are pretty sure it was called). It's an absurdly popular supermarket that also used to be unfortunately one of Village Super Market's most rundown locations despite it being a relatively new one. Simply the amount of foot traffic this store receives had worn it out in just 25 years. You can see the store in a tour here . This store was planned around the same time as Garwood (which then opened in 2001) and so has an almost identical layout. But for years, this was the worn-out inner city store while Garwood was the beautiful spacious suburban store. Oh boy, how things have changed. Garwood's 2008-era decor is be...