SNAPSHOT: Olive Tree Marketplace

Welcome to NJ Supermarkets' first Snapshot! This is how I'll post a picture or two if it isn't part of a full store tour, along with my usual droning on and on about it. Today we're taking a look at Olive Tree Marketplace in Denville, NJ...

...which is a 15,000-square-foot gourmet market that opened in 2015 as a Key Food affiliate. Dean Janeway, CEO of Key Food, lives in Denville; Key Food had previously tried Denville at a location which is now Walgreens in downtown. My later visit, on a nicer day, revealed that the store had become a Retail Grocers Group affiliate, a cooperative that also operates Fine Fare and Shop Fair supermarkets. The logo above the lettering on the front had been removed for one reason or another...

...possibly to make way for a Shop Fair logo, I originally thought. However, Olive Tree in Denville now appears to be under separate ownership or management from the other location on Staten Island, as they are now using an awful, homemade-looking circular, while the Staten Island location uses the Shop Fair circular. The switch to Retail Grocers seems to have brought significantly higher prices...

...and the Parade storebrand, although there were several Urban Meadow (Key Food) brand products around.

I'm not sure exactly what's going on here. On my most recent visit, the prices (which were pretty high to begin with) had gone up even more. The store was incredibly cold, like there was a problem, not just like they had the AC on high. And, the store was empty (of customers).

Someone I know who used to live in an apartment complex within walking distance of this store told me that although the quality is top-notch, the prices are just too high for really any shopping. That's a shame, because our grocery industry here is so competitive. Even slightly higher prices -- or perception of higher prices -- can be destructive to a store. We'll just have to see where that goes.