The Market Report

ShopRite of Metro Plaza Owner: Inserra Supermarkets Opened:  1990s Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  400 Metro Plaza Dr, Downtown, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Our next tour is here at the ShopRit of Metro Plaza! Yep, the e seems to be long gone here, and I remember visiting this store years ago and two or three letters were missing then, too. The exterior sets the tone for the whole store, with its dingy awning and, on the side of the store, the pre-2002 ShopRite logo along with the Sovereign Bank logo covered by nothing more than tape, which in this area became Santander in 2013. There is, however, a reason for the lack of maintenance on the 66,000 square foot store: it along with the complex it's in is slated to be demolished and replaced with a residential tower and some other spaces. (Last I heard, though, there wasn't a firm start date for that project, so it seems Inserra is just letting the store kind ...

Key Food Fresh & Natural Owner: Johnny Taveras Opened:  2012 Previous Tenants:  Finast > Foodtown > CTown Supermarkets Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  574 Jersey Ave, Downtown, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 We're here visiting the Key Food of Jersey City! Although Key Food is the market leader in New York City, it took quite a while for the cooperative to really gain a foothold in New Jersey. This location was a natural choice, opening back in 2012 in a former CTown -- especially since it's only a mile and a half west of Manhattan, although yes, it is across the river. The store, at only 7900 square feet, is one of the most space-efficient supermarkets I've ever seen. We enter to produce in the front part of the first aisle, with a deli at the back and meat lining the back wall. The last aisle has frozen foods on the inside of the aisle and dairy on the outside wall. The store was extensively remodeled when Key Food moved in an...

99 Ranch Market Owner: Roger Chen Opened:  2016 Previous Tenants:  Pathmark Cooperative:  none Location:  420 Grand St, Downtown, Jersey City, NJ Photographed:  December 2020 Not too long ago, downtown Jersey City had three big-name chain supermarkets: a Pathmark, a ShopRite, and an A&P. The ShopRite remains (for now, although it's slated to be replaced by a residential development), the A&P became an ACME, and the Pathmark is now this 99 Ranch Market. This is one of three Pathmarks that 99 Ranch, a Taiwanese supermarket chain, acquired in New Jersey. Another is in Hackensack, which we will not be visiting, but we will be seeing the Edison location. The California-based chain is expanding its presence on the east coast, with those three stores, a former Big Y World Class Market in Quincy, MA (and let me tell you, that Big Y was just depressing before, as of a summer 2019 visit), and a recently-announced store in Westbury, NY, on Long Island. The 48,000...