The Market Report

Food Universe Marketplace 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 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...

CTown Supermarkets Opened:  September 2026 Owner: unconfirmed; possibly Manny & Robert Pena Previous Tenants:  Grand Union (open by 1966, closed between 1994 and 1996) > CVS (open by 1996, closed 2024) > Fresh Mart (2025-2026) Cooperative: Krasdale Location: 132-22 14th Ave, Queens, NY Photographed: September 11, 2026 We're back here in College Point, Queens , a peninsula kind of in the northeastern part of the borough. There's a handful of supermarkets here, including a large ShopRite, but two Asian grocers had opened up just across the street from each other: a small store called Ai Mart and then a larger, more full-service supermarket called Fresh Mart in a former CVS. Neither actually made it, and both closed earlier this year. Now, the roughly 10,000 square foot Fresh Mart space has reopened as a new supermarket -- a CTown, which is still in the soft opening phase so it's mostly set up but there are a few minor things to continue working on. Here's on...

Shaw's Opened: 2001 Owner: Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants: Grand Union (ca. 1970s-2001) Cooperative: none Location: 97 E Main St, Wilmington, VT Photographed: August 7, 2021 One look at the outside of this store will tell you it's definitely not the average Shaw's. In fact, this store is pretty small for Shaw's (around 20,000 square feet), and that's because it's a Grand Union that was built in the 1970s and appears to actually have lasted all the way to Grand Union's final bankruptcy in 2001. It's in the small town of Wilmington, Vermont, which is roughly halfway between Brattleboro and Bennington. The interior is freshly renovated by Shaw's and really looks good, but we can tell it's an old building. Produce is in the front-left corner and continues down the first aisle, with a tiny bakery behind it and deli on the back wall next to meat. Frozen and dairy are on the right side, with beer and wine in the front-right corner. This dec...