The Market Report

Food Universe Marketplace Opened: May 3, 2024 Owner:  Kevin Kim Previous Tenants:  A&P (1970s-2001) > Food Basics (2001-2015) > Gala Fresh Farms (2016-2018) Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  514 Van Houten Ave, Passaic, NJ Photographed:  May 10, 2024 Welcome to another new Key Food store! We recently saw the new Brooklyn Fare on the Lower East Side and a SuperFresh coming soon to Highland Park, New Jersey. Now it's time for another brand-new store! And yes, we've been here before. The Food Universe space is carved out of part of a longtime supermarket -- in the 1970s, this building was constructed as an A&P, then closed in 2001 and reopened that year as an A&P-owned Food Basics . JoshAustin610 says that this was the first Food Basics in the United States. When Food Basics closed in 2015 in A&P's final bankruptcy, Aurora Grocery Group acquired the space, turning it into a Gala Fresh Farms in 2016 . They renovated in 2017, but unfo...

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P Address: 514 Van Houten Ave, Passaic, NJ Opened:  1970s Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Food Basics (closed 2016) > Gala Fresh Farms (2016-2018) Photographed:  January 5, 2023 We are returning to the former Passaic Gala Fresh Farms /Food Basics/A&P on Van Houten Avenue for a quick look at what the store is like today. Unfortunately, the roughly 30,000 square foot store has been subdivided into three spaces rather than being left intact, and even more unfortunately, two of those three spaces have been taken by dollar stores, with Family Dollar and Dollar Tree each taking around 10,000 square feet. (I don't particularly like any dollar store, and certainly not one of these Family Dollar-Dollar Tree combo stores.) The good news is that part of this building will become a SuperFresh. I mentioned this on yesterday's post about the upcoming Clifton SuperFresh , and this will be Passaic's second SuperFresh . It's not clear to me ex...

Food Universe Marketplace Owner: unknown Opened:  2019 Previous Tenants:  ShopRite > Pathmark > Food Basics > GalaFresh Farms Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  498 E 30th St, Paterson, NJ Photographed:  February 2021 It's just a few weeks since we actually covered the Food Universe Marketplace here in Paterson, with a store tour last month , but I returned to visit the store myself just after posting that tour. And boy, am I glad to have gotten back! This store is looking better than ever after its extensive remodel which I mentioned in the previous tour. The 37,000 square foot supermarket is part of a new push by Key Food into Paterson, a city which many chains have ignored due to its low income level and high crime rate. However, based on Key Food's latest stores here, it's clear they're investing big in the city. (Make sure to check out their other two stores, SuperFresh and Food Fair , along with our other posts today -- the SuperFresh in G...