The Market Report

Welcome to the Stroudsburg area! We're going to be around this part of the state for around a month, with maybe half of that dedicated to Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. But we're starting to the south of Stroudsburg, a town of around 6000 people in the eastern part of the Poconos, with stops in Pen Argyl, Bangor, and Portland, before moving east to Shawnee and then north to East Stroudsburg, at which point we'll circle back into Stroudsburg itself, then head west and south for stops in Bartonsville, Tannersville, and Brodheadsville. (Then after that it's out west to the Coal Region!) It's a lot of interesting stuff in this area, so let's jump in. Monday will be our first stop, out in Pen Argyl here on The Market Report on Monday!

 Welcome to the Stroudsburg area! We're going to be around this part of the state for around a month, with maybe half of that dedicated to Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. But we're starting to the south of Stroudsburg, a town of around 6000 people in the eastern part of the Poconos, with stops in Pen Argyl, Bangor, and Portland, before moving east to Shawnee and then north to East Stroudsburg, at which point we'll circle back into Stroudsburg itself, then head west and south for stops in Bartonsville, Tannersville, and Brodheadsville. (Then after that it's out west to the Coal Region!) It's a lot of interesting stuff in this area, so let's jump in. Monday will be our first stop, out in Pen Argyl here on The Market Report on Monday!

SuperFresh Owner: Howard Lee / Food World Supermarkets Opened:  2017 Previous Tenants:  Food Fair > Pantry Pride > Foodtown > Food King > A Seabra Foods Cooperative:  Key Food Stores Location:  550 Raritan Rd, Roselle, NJ Photographed:  January 10, 2023 Obligatory Roselle SuperFresh update. Unfortuntely, it's not all that exciting, but there has been work done. Nearly all of the interior has been cleaned out, and it does look like the space is in a condition that could be used to build out a new supermarket... but it's hard to tell. Compare this to the last update . The interior is looking emptier but cleaner, and more lights are on. I'm interested to see where this goes. Notice the very bright lights on over what used to be the grocery aisles. We'll see how much the space is renovation (cosmetically) before the store reopens -- that is, assuming it will in fact reopen. It's around two and a half years since the store closed. Just for a few glances ...

Western Beef Supermarket Owner: Peter J. Castellana III Opened:  ca. 2005 Previous Tenants:  A&P (1980s-ca. 2000) Cooperative:  Associated Supermarket Group Location:  2040 Forest Ave, Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, NY Photographed:  January 13, 2023 Remember this store? It's been some time since we first toured this 40,000 square foot store which takes up most of a former A&P in far northern Staten Island. The A&P closed around 2000, and Western Beef moved in around five years later but was open no later than 2007. I'm not sure whether Western Beef originally took up the entire 52,000 square foot building, but around 12,000 square feet of it is now a discount store on the left side. If you look at my previous photos, you'll notice that the department signage to the left of the Western Beef logo has been removed, but the store has not been reduced in size since then. It's possible when that space was vacant, Western Beef was allowed to put signage...

Original Grocery Tenant: ShopRite Address: 242 Lincoln Blvd, Middlesex, NJ Opened:  1968 Closed:  1984 Later Tenants:  Pathmark (1984-2015) > Price Saver Fresh Marketplace (April 2019-September 2019) > SuperFresh (coming soon) Photographed:  January 10, 2023 Just a quick revisit at the Price Saver Fresh Marketplace, previously Pathmark and ShopRite, in Middlesex, NJ. The space's history has been well-documented here on the blog , and we do have definitive confirmation that the space is set to become a SuperFresh. The SuperFresh/Food World 2023 calendar, which they were giving out at the Belleville location, has the locations listed on the back and this store was on it listed as opening 2023. Worth noting, though, that Roselle is not listed on that same list -- and, for one reason or another, the December 2023 calendar page says Wishing All Food Bazaar Customers a Merry Christmas. So I'm not entirely sure what to make of that all. As we can see in these two pi...

Amazon Fresh Opening: date not announced P revious Tenants:  non-grocery tenants Location:  430 New Dorp Ln, New Dorp, Staten Island, NY Photographed:  January 13, 2023 We're here on Staten Island to check out one of several dozen or more unopened but fully built Amazon Fresh shells around the country, which has the telltale facade with the green stripes but no signage. I'm not sure how much is done on the inside since the windows were all covered over, but the 40,000 square foot store could very well be ready to launch anytime. Amazon Fresh as a whole is in limbo as extensively discussed on this forum , so this one is likely to remain as it is for some time. If this store ever does open, it's got a very tough location in an awkwardly situated strip mall on Hylan Boulevard, which within a few blocks in either direction is also home to a Stop & Shop, a very new ShopRite, the new HL Supermarket , and a small market called Family Fruit. Tomorrow we're returning to nor...

Original Grocery Tenant:  Hall's Grocery Address: 39 N 7th St, Easton, PA Opened:  1969 Closed:  ca. 2018 Later Tenants:  none Photographed:  January 8, 2021 You'd barely even know this space was home for many decades to a small grocer, now that the store has closed up shop, except for the Pepsi vending machine out front which is a bit odd to just have in front of someone's house. What I didn't realize when I was there is that the store actually had its entrance here in this building but most of the store seems to have been to the side, next door in the area with yellow siding that we can see in this street view when apparently the store was still in business. Sadly, this is all that's left these days, and I couldn't get a good look inside the store. But that wraps up our look at the Lehigh Valley! Tomorrow we're going to see some updates and special reports, and then after that we're off to the Stroudsburg area!

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P Address: 1520 Northampton St, Easton, PA Opened:  1950s (?) Closed:  1983 Later Tenants:  ShopRite (possible?) > Cramer's Home Center (1980s-1998) > CVS (1998- ) Photographed:  January 8, 2021 This 17,000 square foot store was clearly a centennial A&P, but interestingly enough also has an arched roof behind that facade with a small flat section on either side, suggesting it may actually have been an earlier build converted to a centennial in the 1960s. According to JoshAustin610 , it may have later become a ShopRite before a series of non-grocery tenants, most recently CVS. We have one more stop in the Lehigh Valley before we move on, which is a small former grocery store just north of center city Easton that we'll be seeing tomorrow right here on Grocery Archaeology!

Los Compdres Mini Market Owner:  Edward Ovalle Opened:  2013 Cooperative:  none Location:  1649 Washington Ave, Easton, PA Photographed:  January 8, 2021 That's quite the building exterior! This structure was built in the 1950s as a Food Fair, and I would recommend reading JoshAustin610's description of its history here . What he identifies as a former video store is now a small grocery store on the left side of the building, taking up maybe 3,000 square feet of the roughly 12,000 square foot building. It's not hard to tell this building was a grocery store, since it has all of the trademark features but also the beautiful marquee-style feature over what used to be the main entrance (see this example in Trenton for another similar design). The side of the building is clearly an old supermarket, though, between the columns and the bricked-over windows! What appears to be the former Food Fair entrance is now the entrance to Los Compadres Mini Market, a small bode...