The Market Report

Original Tenant: Rex-Gene Food Warehouse Address: 136 Monmouth Rd, West Long Branch, NJ Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  unsure of exact location Photographed:  January 2021 Bear with me on this one. I am fairly certain that this 26,000 square foot segment at the far right of the Kmart of West Long Branch was previously a Rex-Gene Food Warehouse -- but I am not entirely convinced that the Rex-Gene wasn't at the far left side of the Kmart, since I recall reading that Kmart expanded into the Rex-Gene space. The Kmart closed in early 2020 and, to my knowledge, remains vacant. Rex-Gene is not a chain about which there is a lot of information on the internet, but I'm going to give a few details here. The chain originated in Brooklyn and later expanded to New Jersey, eventually moving their headquarters to Red Bank. I am unsure how many stores Rex-Gene had at its peak, but by early 1998, they were down to five: Berkeley, West Long Branch, Rahway , Sayrev...

ShopRite of West Long Branch Owner: Richard Saker / Saker Supermarkets Opened:  1973 Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Wakefern Food Corp. Location:  145 Monmouth Rd, West Long Branch, NJ Photographed:  January 2021 Here we go with our first "shore" ShopRite! Like so many ShopRites in this part of the state, the West Long Branch store is owned by Saker Supermarkets, but is not their latest prototype. In fact, this one is a few models ago, having been built in 1973 as a replacement for a gorgeous arched-roof store nearby. Most of the Saker stores have one of the latest three prototypes -- see #1 (~2010s) , #2 (~2000s) , and #3 (~1990s) . If my memory serves me, only this store, Edison, and Freehold remain with the 1970s design. The interior, however, has been remodeled, probably last in the 90s. I think it's fairly likely Saker is preparing to move over to the former Kmart space just across the street. (That's our other store for the day, since it also had...