The A&P-owned SuperFresh of Plainsboro, NJ closed in 2013, leaving the town of 23,000 residents with one grocery store, an
Asian Food Markets location. The issue was hot enough that a Facebook page was even started to emphasize that "
Plainsboro Needs a Supermarket". So when it was announced that a Key Food-operated gourmet-focused Food Emporium would open in 42,000 square feet of the former SuperFresh, residents were thrilled.
Except they got this instead.
That's right, it's a new SuperFresh (opened 02/23/18)! A Key Food-operated SuperFresh owned by our old friend Kevin Kim -- whose SuperFresh locations in Garwood and Edison were, um, explosive. In that they lasted a short time and then disappeared. To be fair, Kim owns successful supermarkets in New York City, although it's become clear at this point that he not only specializes in running stores in lower-income urban areas with large Hispanic and Caribbean populations, but that that's the
only type of store he can run. As a matter of fact, this store is actually co-owned by Food World executive John Ahn, who runs the
SuperFresh in Roselle.
And if you were wondering what stores Kim has closed, just take a look at the carts here. A&P carts from Edison, Pathmark and Pathmark-turned-Food Emporium carts from Garwood, and old SuperFresh carts from this very location. Plus a bunch of random carts from Haggen, a west-coast small chain, as well as a few Walmart hand-me-downs.
This is how you open a new supermarket (that's the Estevez/Tirado Foodtown of Valley Cottage, NY).
Plainsboro has a significant Asian population, which Kim is trying to cater to here, although he's also trying to bring in standard American groceries to satisfy the highly-publicized demands of the market that's not being served by Asian Food Markets. A different operator might be able to do that well, but this store is stuck in the middle in that it's set up like an ethnic market, but is really a standard supermarket. More frequently, the reverse works better, a standard supermarket that happens to sell a large selection of ethnic goods. Like Food Bazaar.
The store is very deep, although it's narrow. There are actually three sets of aisles from front to back. Produce and seafood line the first aisle, with meat and dairy along the back wall, frozen at the far side of the store, and deli and an already-closed food court on the far side of the front end.
I came to this store to buy two items: milk and orange juice. Simple enough, right? Well, we'll see.
Great first impression, but it goes downhill from here. I'm not sure what the flooring is here (in pictures, it looks like polished concrete, but it's not). The one thing Kevin Kim does well in all his stores is the produce department.
This area is immediately next to the entrance, and I can't quite tell what it would have been when the store opened, although I would guess bakery. Baked goods are now over by the deli, taking up space in the former food court.
Floral and customer service along the front-end, with the entrance to the left here.
Here's a look along the front-end.
The store looks much better in pictures than it does in person. In person, the wood and beige walls don't look so much rustic and stylish as they do unfinished, especially when combined with the old produce cases.
Seafood department, which has already been downsized, in the back of the produce department. Notice that the floor covering -- whatever it is -- is coming up as well.
Looking back up towards the front of the store.
Mostly-empty butcher counter in the back of the first aisle. Once again, the haphazard decor makes the store look unfinished. Plus, I'm not sure what the appeal of a "meat factory" is. Shouldn't meat be naturally produced, in the ideal, not factory-made? A
Pioneer Supermarket in Philadelphia has also adopted the name
Pioneer Meat Factory. I don't get it.
Here's a look along the back of the store, with meat and milk in the additional aisle to the right. Ah, so I can check one item off my list -- milk!
Or can I?
Nice milk selection. According to cashier Kevin, the case broke, so they're keeping milk in the backroom. (Note that this story did not end with the phrase "for now" or "until the case is fixed".) To his credit, Kevin went into the backroom and actually brought out a few different choices of milk and even went back to get a second one. Thanks!
The mismatched cases and other fixtures around the store don't help the store's appearance, and make it look even more unfinished.
A look across one of the center aisles of the store.
The rest of the dairy selection was fully stocked, however.
Freezer cases line the other side of this case. And why was the store allowed to open with "UL 411 2 HR" stenciled on the walls in multiple places? I also got a good chuckle out of the
milk sign here.
Plenty of leaking cases, unfortunately. They're probably left over from the old SuperFresh.
Frozen foods takes up the last two aisles (it's actually a very large selection), while deli is in the front.
For whatever reason, the food court barely lasted a few months. Speculation online points to failure to correctly get permits to build and operate it or failed health inspections, but a lack of interest seems just as likely.
The food court seating area is on the other side of these cases, and has been closed. Additional chairs and tables have been moved onto this side of the case, probably to fill floor space. I'm not sure what used to be here on the wall.
If this section were fully up and running, it would be very impressive. The "coming soon" sign on the right is probably, unfortunately, not true. You can see the closed food court to the left. If only the store still looked like
this!
And one last quick look across the front-end before we head out. My complaint with this store is not the fact that it's an Asian-leaning supermarket -- in fact, I'd rather see it commit to being an Asian market rather than this weird hybrid -- but that it's just so badly run. I hate to see supermarkets fail but in this condition, this store just doesn't have a chance.
Update: This week's circular looks ... different.
Here's the standard SuperFresh circular.
SuperFresh
11 Schalks Crossing Rd
Open Daily 7AM-9PM
www.superfreshplainsboro.com
(609) 212-2118
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆
The labelscar at the food court looks like it was lettering that once read "Food Court". Makes sense to remove the sign... except the one right next to it saying "Food and Food Court" remains up. I guess that's on par with the rest of the store, though...
ReplyDeleteOK, that would make sense. Of course, there's Food & Food Court (not even sure what that means), plus the huge Food Court sign over the former seating area.
DeleteDarn! How'd you beat me to this store? I unfortunately have older pictures which will be released at the end of August. Interesting that the Food Court already closed... it seemed pretty busy before!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this store is a bust... Plainsboroians (Yes, I'll call it that) wanted an American supermarket, not another Asian Food Market! Everyone agrees... even those who shop at the Asian Food Market.
Yeah, this was a misguided store that was also badly executed. It's a shame because it's a great location and a potentially really nice facility. Maybe a different operator will be able to figure out what works here.
DeleteIt's too bad the Superfresh logo keeps getting slapped on stores that just wind up failing. Not to mention the stores have nothing in common with Superfresh stores of the past.
ReplyDeleteYes and no. I think the full list of SuperFresh failures since Key Food took over the brand is (in no particular order): Garwood, Edison, Plainsboro, Fairview, New Brunswick, 6400 Amboy on Staten Island, Jackson Heights, and SuperFresh Food World in Garden City Park. Ownership of those stores is important -- in order, their owners were: Kevin Kim, Kevin Kim, Kevin Kim, Kevin Kim, Kevin Kim, Sam Abed, Danny Hamdan, and Howard Lee. You see what I'm getting at? Now of course, it's up to Key Food to support their members' in-store execution, but if the owner just isn't up to the task, then there's not much they can do. Kim has exited the grocery business entirely after declaring personal bankruptcy, and even at the end Fairview and one of his stores on Staten Island left Key Food (or were they kicked out?) for "Freshway" with Retail Grocers, the cooperative that runs Fine Fare. The Abeds and associates have at least 7 or 8 other successful stores, of which four are SuperFresh locations, so I think that was just a one-time failure more than a pattern like with Kim. Same goes for Hamdan's store in Jackson Heights, I really don't get that (the store closed after just a few months and now rumors are circulating that they sold the store to ALDI...?), and Garden City Park was a poorly-planned acquisition of a short-lived independent while Lee also runs the largest and highest-volume stores in the Key Food co-op, which is now almost 400 stores. So I think there's an extremely high level of variability. Other SuperFresh stores seem to do quite well, such as Linden, Hopelawn, Belleville, Irvington, and Paterson, although of course it can be hard to tell. There are additional SuperFresh stores coming soon in Old Bridge, Middlesex, and possibly Long Branch , so the banner and formula must not be a total failure for Key Food or they wouldn't still be expanding. But of course, bringing the quality of all the store operations and a certain level of standardization falls on the cooperative. That said, look at Foodtown. Not overly successful nowadays, admittedly, but their stores range wildly from something like 8,000 square feet to upwards of 70,000. Formats are incredibly different, but still under the same banner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't -- I think more than anything else, it comes down to in-store execution. If that's good, people will return to the store regardless of what it's called.
DeleteP.S. apologies for the rant, but I hope that's informative!
DeleteThat spot where floral is used to be a continuation of customer service, it had a long wrap-around counter
ReplyDelete