Super Foodtown of Bloomfield
Owner: Jack Shakoor / Jack's Supermarkets
My first round of pictures from the Foodtown in Bloomfield was taken way back in May 2016, several cell phones ago, so the quality is not wonderful. I finally returned for the first time in many years to shop here on the day after Christmas 2021 and I had forgotten how much I like this store. (The Caldwell Jack's Foodtown is much closer to me, so I frequently end up shopping there when I want a Foodtown.) But I came back to Bloomfield and there have been a few changes, and I thought I'd use that as an excuse to re-photograph the whole store and basically do an updated store tour.
One of the updates that we do see is that the sushi counter has been moved out of the deli counter to the front end beyond the registers, in between the entrance/exit doors. This space has been a few things, originally an Ahre's Coffee shop and then a juice bar.
As we move into the main supermarket, I remember how beautiful this store really is. I also find the selection here to be really interesting, too, with a noticeably different product mix from your average ShopRite or ACME and so on, in a good way. I find a lot more specialized or specialty products here, plus more local brands, it seems. I will just say, though, as much as I love this store, it's not your place for produce or international foods. They're only fine here, not as good as the rest of the store, although both have improved since the store opened.
A look at the produce department. This signage hasn't held up as well as the other departments around the store, with the word "fresh" falling down a bit and the H missing.
As we continue into the first aisle, which becomes aisle 8, we have a wide selection of chips and snacks along with natural/organic items. Again, I'm not just saying there's a wide selection, I notice that there's products here I can't get elsewhere.
Bread and related items before we get into frozen foods in the first aisle, which is aisle 8 at the back since there are two sets of aisles from front to back.
The space looks beautiful, though, with the big pictures and decor and the many windows. Well-designed thanks to the folks at DY Design, who also did one Aisle One which we saw not long ago.
Side rant here because of the pretzel tower: I love Food Bazaar, where I do a lot of my shopping, but they don't have any freakin' pretzels! They have like three varieties across two brands. So I can never find any worthwhile pretzels there, but these are awesome. Very thick and crunchy -- and flavorful, believe it or not, since I believe they're sourdough pretzels.
Another addition is this bulk coffee department in the coffee/tea aisle. Nice touch!
Aisle 12, of course.
The frozen foods continue on the back wall of the store at the end of the first aisle. I find this store to be extremely pleasant to shop in, partially because of the triangular layout which allows you to wander a little without being too lost.
As I mentioned, the aisles are split in half. Here we see the small, but present, international section in aisles 9-10. I remember when they first opened, this section was like half of an aisle and an endcap, so it's definitely an improvement.
Across from that is the dairy department, which is set up in its own alcove off the sales floor. Again, this to me is a really pleasant layout choice since it separates it without being too convoluted.
Another addition is service seafood, which seems to be an outside vendor, on the side wall between dairy and butcher.
That said, there's no service butcher. Deli/bakery is up next...
Great (and enormous) signage here! But as we see, the whole store was designed with a very high-end positioning in mind. Perfect for the fast-developing Bloomfield downtown with huge numbers of NYC commuters moving into these brand-new high-rise and mixed-use developments.
A disappointingly bad picture of the bakery department in the front, followed by a disappointingly bad picture of the front-end...
Owner: Jack Shakoor / Jack's Supermarkets
Opened: 2015
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: Allegiance Retail Services
Location: 296 Glenwood Ave, Bloomfield, NJ
Photographed: December 2021
But anyway, I'm glad I came back and re-photographed this store since it's so nice and has held up so well over the years. This is one of my favorites! Don't forget to see what else we're checking out today here.
Agree that Unique pretzels are excellent.
ReplyDeleteHi...did we see that the Grand Union name is being resurrected in about a dozen stores throughout upstate NY and Vermont? Apparently, this spinoff of stores is due to the merger of Price Chopper and Tops.
ReplyDeleteAnd a bit more detail...2 Grand Unons are now up and operating...as is the new "retro" logo Grand Union website: www.grandunion.com
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Surprised there hasn't been more news kicking around about this. This was all news to me.
DeleteIn my opinion, they could have done a better job with the logo. It looks...cheap.
DeleteTotally agree. The font is not good. And I don't like the way they're using a sliver of the red dot over the I in Red Dot Savings. Looks like a mistake. Still... exciting to see Grand Union back in some form.
DeleteSorry - probably never posted it, not finding a topic to which it really related.
DeleteIt is due to Tops and Price Chopper joining (creating a new parent company, Northeast Grocery, which was run by the PC CEO, but he is now retiring and the Tops CEO will take over).
The dozen stores were places where both in the same company would have created too much share (like a town where they are the only 2 options, or similar).
Thanks for noting the site is available now!
We are very much aware of the situation going on in NY/western VT with GU. Four stores are returning Grand Union stores (including Rutland, VT).
DeleteCurrently 11 stores are to be converted to GU - one of the Watertown stores was switched to Piggly Wiggly for unspecified reasons. Since the Adirondacks/Green Mountain area doesn't get a lot of coverage, it is hard to tell if those two stores on the website have new GU signage or if they still have Tops signage. The stores that got news articles written about their conversion are either closing as Tops at the end of this month or next month, and are either CNY/Western Mohawk Valley stores.
I kind of agree about the design of the new logo; thinning it out was a major mistake, as the red dot does not fit well in the letter A. Perhaps they could have done what Payless ShoeSource did pre-2006 and make the letter O a red dot instead. It is a cheap nostalgia grab on C&S's part.
I also had no idea that a major grocery supplier had acquired the rights to use the Grand Union trademark. I had assumed that...like A&P for instance...it was just dead and gone.
ReplyDeleteFor my quick reading of a couple of recent newspaper articles, I think the stores are now owned and operated by the owner of Piggly Wiggly. So maybe there might be more GU's in our future...especially in quiet secondary markets like in the rural New England area?
It is C&S Wholesalers. They bought GU when the company was bankrupt, sold off as many stores as possible to other chains (preferring ones they supplied, of course, but would take whatever was available) and then either closed the rest or (mainly in areas where little competition existed) continued to run them as Grand Union.
DeleteTops (when part of Ahold, like Stop & Shop/Giant PA & MD) took over some, then didn't pay and they went back to C&S and returned to Grand Union. Then Tops (now an independent company) bought out all the remaining stores and renamed them Tops.
Now, these few are going back to Grand Union, which means a few of these stores (only 2-5 of the 12) have been GU, Tops, GU, Tops and now GU again in a span of about 20 years! Others are Tops from other sources (either their own original or P&C that they also bought out).
Link to article:
ReplyDeletehttps://progressivegrocer.com/ftc-oks-sale-12-stores-condition-price-chopper-tops-merger