Look Inside: Ridgefield Market - Ridgefield, NJ

(kind of a look inside)

Taking a quick detour from the Hudson County group of stores to look at this former grocery store in Ridgefield, NJ, in Bergen County.

Awfully popular for a closed store. Actually, there's a restaurant right next door that probably uses this lot now that the store is closed. So before we look inside (through the windows, that is), let's look into some history here.

This store was built ca. 1960 (between 1954 and 1966 according to Historic Aerials) and was, at some point in its existence, a Co-Op Food Store (about which I have no information). It's possible that it was built as another chain and taken over by Co-Op.

By 2000, it had become an Associated Supermarket. Check out the interior in 2007 on Groceteria here.

Associated Supermarket, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
 Google Maps street view from 2007.

Associated Supermarket, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Google Maps street view from 2009.

I'm not sure what that circular logo is over the entrance. Maybe an operator logo. And personally, I love these 1950s-style buildings! Anything after that, until about 2000, isn't so great in my book.

By 2012, the store was switched to Fine Fare.

Fine Fare Supermarket, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Google Maps street view from 2012.

While I do like the building, I do not like red lettering on a brick building. By 2013 it was for rent, and the parking lot used for the neighboring Café Tivoli.

Fine Fare Supermarket, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Google Maps street view from 2013.

It's still a pretty good-looking building. Someone else must have thought so too, because by August 2015 The Market Place was open for business!

The Market Place, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Photo from Melissa G. on Yelp.

I don't know what, if any, cooperative The Market Place was a part of. It looks like they cleared out a bunch of grocery shelving for an expanded produce department.

The Market Place, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Photo from Melissa G. on Yelp.

The Market Place, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Photo from Melissa G. on Yelp.

In the second photo above, you can get a glimpse of the Fruits & Vegetables sign we saw on Groceteria, now painted gray. How boring.

The Market Place closed by early 2016 and became a Met Fresh Supermarket.

Met Fresh Supermarket, 543 Shaler Blvd, Ridgefield, NJ.
Google Maps street view from 2016.

Met Fresh didn't last either and by the fall of 2017, the Ridgefield Market, an independent store, had claimed the space. And this is where I come in! By early March 2018, Ridgefield Market had closed.

This store has been operated by just about every major cooperative in the NYC area. Associated and Met Fresh were with ASG. Fine Fare was with General Trading. Ridgefield Market was with Krasdale!

But here's the strange part.

Not only is the store still sporting its grand opening flags and displaying a large banner on the street saying OPEN...

...it's still fully stocked. Of course, except for perishables.

Even baked goods! This store has to have closed recently, right? Any input? I was here on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

Former deli or bakery, and you can just see the beginning of the FRUITS & VEGETABLES sign on the side wall. Looks like someone along the way moved the letters up to the air duct from the wall.

Aside from the endcaps, the grocery aisles look like the store could just not be open for the day yet!

Notice the Krasdale cookies on the shelf to the left. Click on this picture and zoom in -- the shelves are not only stocked, but well stocked! Can anyone explain this?

My only thought is that it's a small operation--maybe even one person as the owner, manager, and clerk. Maybe for some personal reason (illness, family emergency, etc) he or she had to close up shop quickly and ordered the perishables thrown out, but figured the dry goods could sit on the shelves for a while.

Obviously there's some problem with this location. Either the rent is too high, or the location is bad, or the facility has some defect. But the obvious hasty close-up of the Ridgefield Market is quite a mystery. Can anyone offer any input?

(By the way, it's back to Las Palmas in WNY on Friday!)