The Market Report

Because I have way too much free time, I'm proud to introduce The Market Report's first... MUSIC VIDEO! If you couldn't get enough of our Hudson County group, then you're in luck! Now, you can see random photos from the group in no particular order compiled in a music video for no reason other than... "why not?" Seriously, though -- I hope this is at least a little fun, because I think I might make some more going forward. Thoughts?

I've already talked about how the furthest-behind supermarket group around here is Metropolitan City Foods, a division of Associated Supermarket Group that runs Met Foods and Pioneer Supermarkets stores. I won't go into that too much here, but this store is typical of an outdated MCF location. It's the farthest north on our tour and the only one in tiny Guttenberg. On Bergenline Ave between 68th and 69th Streets, the nicest thing about this supermarket is its awning. Not sure about the spelling of "pinacle". If they mean the highest point, then it should be "pinnacle". I doubt it's someone's name, but I could be wrong. It's a surprisingly non-Hispanic store in this very Hispanic neighborhood. The hot food bar is more of the meatloaf and mac & cheese persuasion than arroz con pollo and carne asada. You walk in on the left side to the dairy aisle, strangely enough, and the back wall contains hot food, deli, meat, and seafood. Frozen...

Starting on Monday... Last August, I took a full day to walk around Union City and West New York, NJ (and one stop in tiny Guttenberg), in Hudson County just north of Jersey City. That area is practically overflowing with corner stores, bodegas, super carnicerias, neighborhood markets, and supermarkets. Bergenline Avenue, especially in West New York, is a very pleasant*, vibrant pedestrian-based business district. We're going to take an in-depth look at 20 stores in those two cities over the course of the next month or so. There will be eleven full Store Tours and the remaining nine will be either Snapshots or Look Inside posts. Here's a look at what you can expect over the coming weeks. *Er...it's pleasant when it's not 95 degrees out. Like it was on the day I chose to do a walking  tour of these 20 stores. Definitely click on the picture to zoom in. We'll be touring them approximately from top to bottom (not quite north to south, more like northeast to s...