The Market Report

NJ Supermarkets has... 200 Posts! Fiesta Supermarket this morning marked NJ Supermarkets' 200th post! Plus, we have over 43,000 views since the blog started back in 2016. Our 100 post mark was in September 2017. Thanks for reading and get ready for plenty more posts coming!

We're hopping directly across Bergenline Ave from Four Seasons to check out the independent Fiesta Supermarket. Fiesta was formerly an IGA but is now affiliated with the Retail Grocers Group. The same owners, as I mentioned briefly in the Four Seasons post, own the Fiesta Party Supplies (kind of a Panera Bread  or ATM machine  situation there!), and the Frutería Fiesta just south of 56th St.  Image from Google Maps Street View. Image from my August 2017 visit (yesterday's Bonus Snapshot ). The Fruteria is an interesting store, with a selection of produce and a small deli with a juice bar. Since it's only about a block away from Fiesta Supermarket, they probably try to prevent as much overlap as possible. The Supermarket doesn't have a juice bar, but they do have produce and a deli. Another hand-painted awning. A very nice touch that makes it a more personal experience. Close-up on the graphics on the awning. It looks like the building has been p...

BONUS!! On the southeast corner of Bergenline and 56th, I came across this little storefront, Frutería Fiesta , owned by the same people as the Fiesta Supermarket on the northeast corner of Bergenline and 55th. They're two small stores on the same block as each other but I imagine the owners try to keep as little overlap as possible between the stores. Like Fiesta, which we'll see tomorrow, this store features a hand-painted sign ("by Wilmer", according to the awning here). The Frutería (literally "fruit shop") features a large selection of produce, a small deli, a juice bar, and a few shelves of groceries. The supermarket doesn't have a juice bar. Interesting concept that would only work in such a densely populated area!

Remember California Fruit ? Well, just about ten blocks south is another, very similar store, Four Seasons Farm Market. Another city greengrocer, Four Seasons seemed to be slightly larger. Notice Fiesta Party Supplies next door. That's owned by the same people as Fiesta Supermarket, across the street, which we'll be seeing on Wednesday. Like many greengrocers, the perimeter is lined on two sides with refrigerator cases, one with produce and one with dairy. The center of the store is produce on tables or flat cases of some kind, with dry goods underneath the produce shelving and above the refrigerator cases. Very handy to grab a few apples or a bunch of spinach for dinner.

Jumping back over to Hudson at 56th, we've got a quick Snapshot of a bodega that's calling itself a supermarket. But with no frozen foods and very little produce or fresh meats, I can't consider it a supermarket. Hard to tell exactly what it used to say under the KEA decal.   Maybe "Supermercado OLA"? While this store was incredibly depressing inside, it did lead me to discover a (defunct?) cooperative, Red & White Food Base. I know absolutely nothing about Red & White Food Base, except for the fact that it uses the same logo as Red & White products from The Federated Group . KEA, despite displaying R&W FB posters in the windows, did not carry any Red & White products. Any input as to what Food Base is would be welcomed!

Even though I'm covering 20 stores in this group, only three of them are chain stores. Food Bazaar is the first we're going to see. We've already seen Food Bazaars in Fairview , North Bergen , Elizabeth , Mount Vernon , and Bridgeport , along with the Farmers Market of Bridgeport. The WNY location is the oldest I've been to, and aside from the Farmers Market, also the smallest. This particular location opened in the 1960s as a Finast ( FI rst NA tional ST ores), which was taken over by A&P by the 1980s. A&P then moved to its newer location at 55 Riverwalk Pl around 2002, and Food Bazaar was open by about 2005. This was Food Bazaar's first store in New Jersey. As a side note, the Elizabeth Food Bazaar's store manager Kevin Kim was previously an assistant manager at this location. Not much doubt as to what the store used to be! The A&P shape actually works very well with the new Food Bazaar logo. At first glance, the facade does not appea...