The Market Report

ASR Food Market Opened: February 2026 Owner:  Aziz Khan Previous Tenants:  SuperFresh (1997-2002) > Big Lots (ca. 2005-2024) Cooperative:  none Location:  15501 Bustleton Ave, Philadelphia, PA Photographed:  April 1, 2026 Welcome to Philadelphia! It's been a while since The Market Report has stopped in Philly, hasn't it? Well, I've gone back to the city (and its environs) a few times lately and there's some really interesting supermarkets in and around -- it's just that it's quite a distance from where I live. So let's check out one of the most interesting stores that opened back in February! I write about a lot of international supermarkets here on The Market Report, but we don't hear much about Uzbek supermarkets (other than Tashkent , of course). Philly's largest halal supermarket is this Uzbek market, which takes the place of a former Big Lots. But ASR isn't a new store -- in fact, they moved from a nearby location in a former Wawa. ASR...

Welcome to The Market Report's 10th year! Happy 2026 (a little late, but we were busy with visiting stores), and welcome to The Market Report's 10th year! I started photographing supermarkets back in May 2016, and started writing the blog in November 2016. So all year in 2026, we're going to celebrate with a new special feature every month! This month... we're going back in time to remember A&P, which declared bankruptcy for the final time in the summer of 2015. I've worked very hard on this special feature and I hope you enjoy! Regular posting resumes Monday. Here's a preview of what's next.

Karns Foods Owner: Scott Karns Opened:  late 1990s Previous Tenants:  SuperFresh (1980s-1990s) Location:  4870 Carlisle Pk, Mechanicsburg, PA Photographed:  August 13, 2022 Welcome to the Karns Foods in Mechanicsburg! As you might be able to tell from the distinctive slanted facade, this store was constructed in the early 1980s as a SuperFresh Futurestore, which then closed by the late 90s. Karns didn't do much upon moving in, it seems, to the outside, which retained its distinctive look . When I visited in summer of 2022, the store was undergoing an exterior renovation, keeping the slanted wall but reworking the entrance . As we can see, what's now the main entrance was closed at the time of my visit. The roughly 40,000 square foot store feels significantly less like a SuperFresh inside than outside, but the facade would take a lot of structural work to remove the unusual appearance. So for the time being, all traffic in and out of the store was being directed to th...