The Market Report

Original Grocery Tenant: Ernest Shopwell Supermarket Address: 262 Main St, West Orange, NJ Opened: unknown Closed: ca. 1980 Later Tenants:  Tory Corner Market (ca. 1980-ca. 1990) > Rite Aid (early 1990s-2019) > Walgreens (2019-2024) Photographed: February 24, 2025 This somewhat unremarkable former Rite Aid/Walgreens in downtown West Orange, NJ is actually a former supermarket. I don't know the entire history here, but by around 1970, it was the Ernest Shopwell Supermarket (not apparently related to the Daitch/Shopwell chain of New York), and around 1980, it became the Tory Corner Market affiliated with Fine Fare. Rite Aid was open by the early 1990s. The store is just under 10,000 square feet, and has been vacant since Walgreens closed in 2024. So why bother looking at this store now? A proposal that's gone all but completely under the radar is to demolish the former Rite Aid building along with a vacant former diner next to it to build this new, two-floor supermarke...

Compare & Save Supermarket Opened: May 15, 2026 Owner:  Carlos Batista Previous Tenants: Penn Fruit > Rite Aid Cooperative: Allegiance Retail Services Location: 6515 Castor Ave, Philadelphia, PA Photographed:  June 5, 2026 I don't have any inside insight, but from my estimation, Allegiance Retail Services -- the cooperative behind Foodtown and Pathmark -- has had a bumpy couple of years. Their member Morton Williams was acquired by Wakefern, cutting around 15 stores from their network, followed by member Adam Shapiro switching to Key Food  (that was another three stores). A brand-new Hudson Valley Freshtown closed in under a year after opening, while Food Circus has retreated to just two stores after closing stores in Port Monmouth and Red Bank . Meanwhile, the launch of Pathmark Daily feels more like a last-ditch retool to save a struggling store than a true launch of a new brand. Despite all of that, there's been a really significant, somewhat surprising b...

ShopRite of Cherrywood Plaza Owner: David Zallie / Zallie Family Markets Opened: December 2025 Previous Tenants: Kmart Location: 1468 Blackwood-Clementon Rd, Clementon, NJ Photographed: June 5, 2026 Welcome to Clementon! I rarely get this far south in New Jersey -- we're about 30 miles east of Wilmington here, and almost 100 miles from the area where I live so this isn't a frequent destination of mine. But when I do get the chance to make it down here, I get to see some really interesting stores, including the new H Mart in Cherry Hill and this store, the spectacular new ShopRite of Cherrywood Plaza! Okay, spectacular except for one thing: who approved the lettering on that sign? No, the S isn't falling down, it was simply installed wrong before opening. Here's what the lettering is supposed to look like. With that gripe out of the way, let's take an extensive tour of what must be one of the best ShopRites I've ever been to. This 85,000 square foot store...