The Market Report

Stop & Shop Opened: late 2000s Previous Tenants:  none Location:  1221 NJ-27, Somerset, NJ Photographed:  July 2020 We saw one New Brunswick store at the far south end of the city yesterday, but as we pass into the downtown part of New Brunswick we're taking a brief detour to the west along the border of Somerset and New Brunswick. This side of NJ-27 is in Somerset, while the other side of the street is New Brunswick. This 54,000 square foot Stop & Shop was built in the late 2000s and doesn't appear to be a replacement for any other store.  It's interesting to me that it's not all that old a store, since it seems to be treated a little bit more like an older store. The decor has been painted white, a change from the original yellow , which brightens up the store but is visually atrocious. The grand aisle consists of produce on the left side with deli and bakery along the right wall and meat and seafood on the back wall. I'm not convinced this store is doing...

Foodtown of New Brunswick Owner: Robin Estevez Opened:  2012 under current ownership-March 2021 Previous Tenants:  Food Fair > Pantry Pride Later Tenants: Food Universe Marketplace Cooperative:  Allegiance Retail Services Location:  20 Elizabeth St, Livingston, NJ Photographed:  July 2020 It's time for our latest look at a Food Fair with its arch intact! Previously we've seen Newark and Bloomfield up in Essex County, as well as a tiny bit in Elizabeth . This store later became a Pantry Pride, then a Foodtown owned by the Davidsons probably in the late 70s or early 80s. It was taken over by the Estevezes in 2012, and you can see one of their other locations here . Around 2017 or 2018, the store was switched briefly to Mega Meat City then back to Foodtown in late 2019 or early 2020. In early March of 2021, it was sold to some of the Foodtown managers and it's now a Food Universe Marketplace with the Key Food cooperative. A light remodel was completed inside...

Tropical Supermarket Owner: Ricardo Hernandez Opened:  2012 Previous Tenants:  Bravo Supermarkets Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  959 Livingston Ave Photographed:  July 2020 Time for our next Tropical Supermarket! This 8400 square foot is actually the secondary anchor to this strip, which has a 13,500 square foot anchor currently occupied by CVS. It's possible that was originally a grocery store, although today this store is the grocery tenant in the strip. Possibly Foodtown was in the CVS space, which had a pretty large presence in the greater New Brunswick area. The store is very small and seems to be on the older side. The Bravo that predated this Tropical Supermarket probably was in this spot for a good decade at least before Tropical took over. Although this store is on the smaller side, and a bit older, it's still well-run and well-maintained. Deli and a large butcher line the left side of the first aisle, with produce on the right side. Packaged...