The Market Report

I hope your spring break is wonderful -- although, at least for my part of New Jersey, it's still gray and rainy and cold. I'm interrupting my planned break to post about something that might  be big news, although it's really difficult to tell just how significant the scope of the change might be. We're here in northern New Jersey to visit some of the Village Super Market-owned ShopRite stores. VSM owns about 30 ShopRites in NJ, NY, PA, and MD, and a handful of Gourmet Garage and Fairway stores in New York City. They've recently remodeled several stores, including Bernardsville and Springfield , and just under two months ago unveiled a spectacular new store in Watchung replacing an older location. About a year ago, Village began introducing Gourmet Garage and Fairway branded items at their ShopRite stores. (See here .) I was tipped off by a message from a reader who works in the industry saying he was told that, about three weeks ago, employees of a Village-owne...

ShopRite of Springfield Opened: 1975 Owner:  Village Super Market Previous Tenants:  Safeway (planned, never opened) > Finast (1962-1975) Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  727 Morris Ave, Springfield, NJ Photographed:  April 19, 2025 Welcome back to the ShopRite of Springfield! This store, of course, was planned as a Marina-style Safeway but wasn't yet open when Safeway pulled out of the area. Their area stores went to Finast, and this one opened as a Finast in 1962. In fact, there's even still a Finast sign on the property . In 1975, local ShopRite operator Village Super Market moved into the spot. They've renovated the store several times over the years, expanding it to its present 40,000 square feet. Most recently, it received a minor renovation in late 2024. You can take a look at my post of the store prior to the renovation here . As we'll see, not much has changed, but it's looking pretty good. New decor in the grand aisle with some minor r...