By the early 1980s, it was converted to Food Bazaar (no relation to Food Bazaar), a short-lived upscale A&P store concept. When A&P bought The Food Emporium from Daitch Shopwell in the late 80s, The Food Emporium became A&P's upscale banner in place of Food Bazaar (allowing the current Food Bazaar to use that name). The store was, at this point, converted back to an A&P Foodmarket - a standard middle-market grocery store - which closed soon after, leaving the space vacant for a few years.
By 2002, A&P decided to pull customers from the lower-income neighborhoods south of this store, and likely still held the lease or owned the property. The store was then converted to an early Food Basics, opening in 2002, with the Canadian Food Basics logo (which was never changed):
In the bankruptcy auction, the store was purchased by Key Food Stores Co-Operative and converted to a Key Food. It was owned by the Luna brothers, who also owned the failed Fine Fare in Belleville. Key Food continued the no-frills, discount approach that Food Basics was using briefly, but then began a major renovation inside and outside.
The white banner over the Food Basics logo originally said Key Food, but had faded. Key Food never put any stickers or anything over the Food Basics signage inside, as they were about to start a major remodel. See interior photographs from Styertowne here.
I visited the store for the first time in July 2016 and returned in June 2017. At the time of my first visit, the store was still under construction (mostly the exterior). What I was not prepared for on my first visit was the size of the store. In total the store is only 26,000 square feet, and that's including backroom space and the (substantial) liquor store that Superfresh added in former neighboring storefronts. It's a tiny store, but Superfresh now has service deli and meat, hot food, salad, and a small bakery section, as well as an in-store café - pretty deluxe for a tiny store!
2016
2017
Some things that have stayed the same are the entrance/exit signs from the parking lot...
2016
2017
...and the carts.
2016
Let's head inside. You enter with the deli/bakery/prepared foods on your left and produce behind. Frozen foods are in the second aisle, dairy is along the back wall, meat is in the last aisle. The café is along the front end opposite the entrance.
2016
2016
2017
Produce follows behind the hot food/salad areas. The produce selection has been expanded into the store and now takes up more of the cases there, resulting in a reduction of deli selections. The only other major difference is the removal of the organic produce area; this store now sells no organic produce.
2016
2017
Additional signage and branding has been added in the freezer aisle:
2016
2017
The dairy aisle, along the back wall, has remained about the same. The cases are brand-new and beautiful!
2016
There have also been few changes in the grocery aisles, which use all new shelving.
2017
2016
The liquor department, not yet open in 2016, has fully opened now. It's beautiful and takes up a significant part of the supermarket's total floor space!
2016
2017
The front end looks more or less the same.
2016
2017
2016
2017
Superfresh Glen Rock is a beautiful, fairly upscale store with prices to match. You won't feel ripped off, but you ain't gettin' no bargains on the regular prices, either. It's very convenient, though, and the selection is great for a neighborhood store like it is.
I remember shopping when it was a FoodBasics, which was still an okay store compared to other locations, but this was such an improvement, and I'm more willing to go there over other places closer to me
ReplyDeleteGood to hear the new store is an improvement.
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