Save-A-Lot
Owner: unknown
Opened: 2018
Previous Tenants: none
Location: 200 Central Ave, City of Orange, NJ
Photographed: September 10, 2023
We return to the Orange Save-A-Lot to see some pictures I took about a month ago. The store had been sold and held a grand reopening under new management, although I'm not positive who it is. More on that shortly. It appears that the store was previously owned by the same owner as Hillside and
Newark, but at least this one has been sold.
And the store is fully stocked again! Notice too that produce is no longer stocked in boxes as it was previously. The product mix is a bit more complete, too, with less of the random discount store selection this Save-A-Lot previously had and a more straightforward selection. That said, the produce was not great, but definitely better than it was. Speaking of expanding the selection, it's well-known that Save-A-Lot relies largely on storebrands, but on the subject of storebrands...
I was surprised to find Urban Meadow (Key Food) bread on the shelves and attributed it to the fact that Super Bread makes Urban Meadow and many other storebrand breads and this was a mixup. As we'll see, that's not the explanation here. This store now stocks a significant number of Urban Meadow products alongside the Save-A-Lot brands.
The meat department is looking much healthier than it used to, with a lot more on the shelves. The cold cuts case, too, is much better stocked. It's still a low-end, value-based selection, but there's a lot more here.
And the same in the grocery aisles! It's not that this store isn't a discount supermarket anymore, but that it's a better-run discount supermarket.
And check out the vinegar here. We see both the Urban Meadow brand and the Save-A-Lot brand.
Worth noting that this is far from the only Save-A-Lot selling Urban Meadow items. A Key Food member, Anthony Pena,
bought seven Save-A-Lot stores in New England, some of which are now selling Urban Meadow products. Meanwhile, some of the Connecticut Save-A-Lots aren't selling Urban Meadow, but have been sold and are operating more like a Key Food or CTown-type store.
My vague theory is that these stores were purchased from Save-A-Lot under their franchise agreements with a minimum time they need to stay affiliated with Save-A-Lot. Once that period is up (3 years? 5 years?), I wouldn't be surprised if they over time switch to a full Key Food format store. That said, Key Food hasn't been shy about converting Save-A-Lot stores, with locations in Hartford, East Hartford, and New Britain in CT becoming Key Food stores and a Providence, RI location becoming a SuperFresh. But it looks like those are under new owners.
Other than Urban Meadow products, I could not find any evidence that this store is transitioning to a Key Food affiliation. The price tags, for instance, are all the Save-A-Lot standard tags. It's possible, though, that this store is owned by Pena.
The new owners have added new shelving in the front corner of the store for nonfoods. This is a more complete selection than in the grocery aisles.
There's also a new section dedicated to kitchenwares between the cleaning/paper goods and the front-end.
But again in paper goods, we see quite a few Urban Meadow items in napkins, toilet paper, and a few others.
And again, we can see the store is definitely better stocked than it was.
Glad to see this store is being taken care of better than it was, and it looks like the new owners are doing a much better job than the previous owners. We'll see how it holds up over time, and I'll try to check out Hillside and Newark when I can! In related news, I have confirmation that Extra (which owns a store a few blocks away) is
opening a new East Orange location in a former Rite Aid, and apparently the company has canceled its plans for a
Food Depot in the former Western Beef, which is now an industrial facility. In the meantime...
Comments
Post a Comment