TOUR: Cousins Fresh Market - Carroll Park, Philadelphia, PA

Cousins Fresh Market

Owner: Rushdi Mohammad

Opened: 2013

Cooperative: none
Location: 5429 W Girard Ave, Carroll Park, Philadelphia, PA

Photographed: December 2021

Our second Philadelphia tour, about half a mile south of yesterday's ShopRite, bears a lot of similarities to the American Family Market we saw in Narberth. It was also built in the early 1950s (or so) as an A&P, although this one was retrofitted with a very simple Centennial facade in the early 1960s. I doubt this store made it to the SuperFresh (post-1983) era, when all Philadelphia-area A&P stores were converted to SuperFresh, and at some point it became an American Family Market also. The Girard American Family Market eventually gave way to the KS Thriftway, and it's unclear whether that store was actually affiliated with the Thriftway cooperative given that they didn't use the logo on the sign. That store closed around 2012, being converted to a Cousins Fresh Market in 2013. Cousins Fresh Market (no relation to Cousin's Supermarkets, which has two Philadelphia stores and one New Jersey store, nor to Cousin's Family Market elsewhere in Philadelphia, nor to any other Cousin's-named chain in Philadelphia as far as I can tell) redid the store and reopened. The 8500 square foot store is quite small, but features a full produce department, a large butcher, a deli, and dairy/frozen along with basic groceries.

I must say that the beat-up parking lot, overgrown fence on the side and back of the property, and graffiti around the exterior did not give me high hopes for the interior. I am pleased to report that the inside is actually quite nice and clearly very recently fixed up, probably when Cousins moved in. I wouldn't be surprised if those exterior concerns (parking lot, fence, building paint) are handled by a landlord who's not too enthusiastic about fixing up the place, while the interior is handled by the supermarket owners.

Heading in, we see a very nicely redone small supermarket. We can tell that the building is on the older side, but clearly the maintenance here is top-notch. We see that every shelf is meticulously stocked, the floors are beautifully clean and shined, and the fixtures themselves are in excellent repair. Clearly the managers and staff here take a lot of pride in their store, which is great to see.

Produce and meat are in the first aisle, with a large butcher and deli counter lining the back wall of the store. Dairy and frozen are on the outside of the last aisle.

Large butcher counter, including halal options, on the back wall. As we see, these are older fixtures but everything is extremely well-maintained. I did drag my mother to this store, and even she (by the way, she doesn't write three supermarket blogs -- shocking, I know!) was impressed with the way this store is kept up.

Interesting coffin cases between the first and second aisles here, with additional merchandise below and above in what looks like custom shelving. What a great way to display your selection of spices!

A manager in this store did question my mother and me about what we were doing taking pictures, and I'm not sure he believed me when I explained what I was doing. I'm also not sure he believed me when I told him he was doing a great job with this store -- it really is a great neighborhood supermarket, just compare it to the American Family Market -- but he did in fact look up my websites, so I hope he enjoyed seeing that, and I hope he's reading this! Although, realistically, he's probably not.

Brand-new frozen and dairy cases here in the last aisle. We can, again, tell that the flooring is older but very nicely refinished. And I was here right at the beginning of a week, so the stock we see is presumably recovering from the weekend rush. There was a lot of stocking going on actively, so it's not just sitting there.

And a look at the front end of the store before we move on. I was really pleasantly surprised with this store, but they do need to work on the property outside a little bit. But nothing makes me happier than a well-run community grocery store. What a nice way to end the week, and Monday is another nicely modernized supermarket that's been operating for many decades, over in the University City area. Head over to The Market Report on Monday to check it out!