TOUR: Patel Brothers - Iselin, NJ

Patel Brothers

Owner: Swetal & Rakesh Patel

Opened: ca. 2013 in this location

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: none

Location: 1555 Oak Tree Rd, Iselin, Woodbridge, NJ

Photographed: June 2020

We've crossed into Iselin, an unincorporated community at the northern border of Woodbridge Township, from Edison where we saw an Apna Bazar, a Patel Brothers just half a mile west of this one, and India Grocers. While that Patel Brothers is a former A&P, this new-build store opened around 2013 immediately next door to an older location about half the size (which almost looks like an expanded Wawa...?). Let that sink in: Patel Brothers has basically quadrupled its square footage in this very short stretch of road, and both stores are very busy, beating out the copious competition. Impressive. This 12,000 square foot store is noticeably smaller and worn than the slightly larger and newer (by about 3 years) location just up Oak Tree, but it's still solidly the second-best supermarket in this stretch.

The layout in this store is almost identical to the Edison location, minus Patel's Fresh Kitchen in the front corner. We can see that the store looks ever so slightly more rundown, but still in excellent shape.

Nice windows along the side wall! The one thing I will say is that the ceilings are higher here, giving the store an airy feeling.

We notice that the passageways are more cramped here, but we're seeing virtually the same layout and selections. Even the same fixtures, especially in the grocery aisles...

And probably due to the store's smaller size, I would bet good money that the shelves are stacked higher up...

It's possible that this store is busier, so we're not seeing the shelves as pristinely stocked as the Edison location.

And frozen foods line only one and a half sides of the last aisle, but the cases still look very new.

And once again, we see fast-moving lines on the front end with 5 of 9 registers open at an off-time. Great management compared to Apna Bazar!

We have two more stores here in Iselin before we move on, with our next one just across Magnolia Road (so it's on the same side of Oak Tree Road but just in the next block). Head over to The Independent Edition tomorrow to see it!