The Market Report

LIDL Opened: 2018 Owner: Schwarz Group Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: none Location: 2375 US-22, Union, NJ Photographed: March 6, 2019 and January 7, 2026 Before we begin, just a heads up: this was originally posted on June 27, 2021, but was rewritten with new photos in September 2026. Now for the post! Today we get to see an extensive look at a first-generation US LIDL -- back when the discount chain was pretty sure they'd dominate the American grocery market with a fleet of these admittedly striking but extremely costly custom-built locations. Well, LIDL continues to expand (though not without its share of struggles and missteps), but ultimately, these impressive buildings proved to be too expensive. The chain has since looked for a variety of empty spaces to reuse as well as building less costly new ones. LIDL's locations have also gotten smaller over the years, with this one reaching nearly 40,000 square feet -- not all that much smaller than the 62,000 square fo...

Original Tenant:  Mayfair Foodtown Address: 52-56 Westfield Ave, Clark, NJ Opened:  unknown Closed:  1989 Later Tenants:  A&P (1989-2006) Photographed:  December 2020 Quite the relic here in downtown Clark. This 24,000 square foot building was built as a Mayfair Foodtown, later being sold to A&P in 1989. A&P, in turn, moved a little over a mile northwest to the location that's now ACME in 2006. Since then, the space has remained vacant, with A&P even holding on to the lease until 2012. The township, then, condemned the space in 2018 with plans to forcibly acquire the store by eminent domain, although I'm not sure where those plans stand now. As much as a retail relic like this excites me, I also understand it's quite the eyesore in a downtown location. The building's exterior has deteriorated extensively over the years, with paint peeling and mold forming around the walls. I believe the panels above the doors here are something to do with vent...

ShopRite of Clark Owner:  ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc. Opened:  1990s Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  76 Central Ave, Clark, NJ Photographed:  June 2020 A store I've been to many times but only photographed recently, the 70,000 square foot ShopRite of Clark is one of the highest-volume stores in the area. It's always crowded, and it's very nicely renovated. It's one of only three ShopRites in New Jersey owned corporately by ShopRite Supermarkets (SRS), the other two being Spotswood and Montague -- meaning it's one of the best-run supermarkets around. Previously, the store was located diagonally across the street in a former ACME . Clark also has a newly built Whole Foods in the property just behind this, and an ACME in a former A&P about a half a mile west. Moving a little farther out, there's a still-vacant former A&P that the now-ACME store replaced. That's where we'll be heading up next...