TOUR: Lotte Plaza Market - Edison, NJ

Lotte Plaza Market
Owner: Sung Lee

Opened: 2019

Previous Tenants: Stop & Shop > A&P > SuperFresh

Cooperative: none

Location: 1185 Amboy Ave, Edison, NJ

Photographed: July 2020

We're here following up on today's earlier store tour of the SuperFresh in Edison with the store that replaced it, the Lotte Plaza Market of Edison. The Maryland-based chain of Asian supermarkets (focusing on Korean selections) was one of two Asian stores to take the opportunity of the former A&P locations that closed in New Jersey, the other being 99 Ranch Market from the west coast which took Pathmark locations in Hackensack, Jersey City, and here in Edison which we'll see shortly.

The store on a random Friday morning a year after it opened was far busier than SuperFresh just weeks after opening on a Saturday. I'm glad to see that Lotte Plaza has successfully brought this space (and, more importantly, this whole mall) back to life. Inside, while the space has been extensively remodeled, we'll still see the bones of the A&P intact.

Lotte Plaza has opened up the entrance foyer in the front here, with the removal of the floral department in the front in favor of, at the time of my visit, local and seasonal produce. The fixtures in the produce department have all been replaced, although the basic layout remains the same.

Looking back towards the entrance. Notice that the wooden structures over the entrance door were actually installed by SuperFresh.

Produce department looking better than ever with all new fixtures, lighting, polished concrete flooring, and decor.

I love the simple but modern and clean decor, paired with the lighting and painted brick-style wall pattern.

A&P/SuperFresh's deli area is now prepared Korean foods for take-out. As we'll see, there is no shortage of ready-to-eat foods here, but there's no deli.

On the back wall here, where A&P/SuperFresh had prepared foods and seafood, Lotte Plaza has expanded with a huge seafood counter. There's more seafood in an island in front of the counter...

Notice the angled wall that says "Poultry and Meat" where A&P/SuperFresh had a butcher counter. I don't recall seeing a service butcher in the store here, though.

Meats and refrigerated packaged goods line the back wall.

Moving into the grocery aisles, we see virtually nothing left over from A&P/SuperFresh. New flooring, shelving, lighting, and ceiling. Notice that in SuperFresh, the lighting was hanging from the ceiling instead of built into it.

Moving down to aisle 6, we have one row of frozen food cases, which was installed new...

...and aisles 7-8 are frozen foods also with coffin cases running down the middle.

The aisles are very spacious in this area. It is a little funny though, to see the new store putting in this old-fashioned freezer case layout! Most older stores, including this store as an A&P, originally had this layout but switched the middle cases to upright cases instead of coffin cases.

I believe the difference in ceiling heights shown here was an expansion.

Moving back to the rear wall for more refrigerated goods.

In addition to the primary Korean and Chinese selections here, Lotte Plaza also has an Indian section. Edison has one of the largest Indian populations in the state, and the primary stores that cater to that population are up on Oak Tree Road.

The store has been made more narrow and the dairy aisle moved in a bit to accommodate a food court at the end of the store.

And the way H Mart has Paris Baguette or Tous Les Jours bakeries inside them, this Lotte Plaza Market has a similar bakery.

Interestingly, this is approximately where A&P/SuperFresh's bakery would have been. Next on the front wall of the bakery is another outside vendor with health and beauty products.

The food court takes up the last approximately two aisles that A&P/SuperFresh would have had, shown here closed due to the coronavirus.

The front end has also been tightened, with a few registers removed for general merchandise. While I'm sure neither A&P nor SuperFresh ever used anything close to all the registers, Lotte Plaza seems like a place that could actually use more registers than they have.

Here's a look across the remaining front-end. Looking so much better than SuperFresh! That's a big improvement. This store backs up to US-1, the main business highway through the area, and our next four stores are to the south along US-1. Come back tomorrow for a look at the big chain store just about a mile south on route 1.