Kenilworth Fresh Market
Opened: between 2013 and 2015
It's time once again for a trip back to the Kenilworth Fresh Market! We last saw it back in 2021, when it had recently reopened after closing briefly in 2019-2020. I had one interior picture but I went back and re-photographed the entire store last November, so that we can have a full tour. That's up first, but after we tour the store as it was in November, we'll see what's going on lately since it's now changed ownership yet again.
The first aisle is up front, running along Kenilworth Boulevard. Drinks and a few frozen things like ice cream are on the front wall, then the rest of frozen and dairy run along the left side of the store. Grocery aisles run side to side with the registers on the right side of the store. Produce, meat, and deli are at the back, where there's also an entrance and exit to the parking lot in the rear.
The store is around 7600 square feet and has likely been a supermarket for a very long time, but in its recent history, it was an Associated Supermarket in the late 90s followed by A&A Supermarket, then became an independent called ExpresSupermarket from the late 00s to about 2012. It was then reopened as Kenilworth Fresh Market from 2012 to 2019, closed from 2019 to late 2020, then reopened again as Kenilworth Fresh Market under new ownership. At some point in the first half of 2024, the store was sold again, this time to the owners of the City Supermarkets chain. More on that shortly.
As you can see, this store is small and set up not unlike a convenience store (since Kenilworth already has a very large supermarket in town), but is truly a full supermarket.
It definitely has an old-school neighborhood feel. I don't know how many people are actually shopping here, though, and judging by the frequency that it closes and reopens I'm betting it's not particularly high-volume.
In the back, there was one meat case with the produce department behind that. This area has been reset under the new ownership, which we'll see shortly.
The deli is at the back, and you can see in this picture the produce was a bit sparse when I was here in November.
That has changed, although again we'll see if the new owners can maintain the store fully stocked.
Now for my pictures from more recently!
Saturday, in fact. Very recently. Signs in the front and back advertised City Supermarket was coming soon, although I might have designed this sign a little differently since it's not clear the store is currently open, which it is. This store has yet to appear on the City Supermarket website.
Inside, the store looks very similar but has been reset once again, and once again the shift seems to be towards making it more of a full supermarket.
City Supermarkets currently has four locations, in Newark, Irvington, Fairview, and Asbury Park. The owner, Mitchel Lopez, also owns Extra Supermarket locations in Newark, Jersey City, and Elizabeth.
Signage inside the store still says Kenilworth Fresh Market, for now, but the sale tags say City Supermarkets. This store isn't running the circular for City Supermarkets, yet at least.
As we see, the grocery aisles are pristine and fully stocked these days.
For several years, the store used Krasdale products. City is supplied by General Trading and uses the Parade and Life Every Day brands from The Federated Group, so I assume over time those brands will be phased in here.
The produce department has been reset, too, to be more of a standard supermarket produce department (although of course it's small).
Packaged deli items have been brought in like those hanging Boar's Head packages you can see on the right, along with bulk foods like nuts and beans.
And the meat case has been switched over from primarily packaged cold cuts to primarily fresh meats, although again, whether this lasts will probably be dictated by how the store's volume is.
A well-stocked dairy case is in the back of the left side wall.
And here's a quick look at the registers -- one supermarket-style conveyor belt register is in the middle of the store (and that doesn't appear to be in use at the moment), and one convenience store-style register is on the right side wall. So it's definitely somewhere between a convenience store and a full supermarket.
Opened: between 2013 and 2015
Owner: Mitchel Lopez
Previous Tenants: Associated Supermarkets > A&A Supermarket > ExpresSupermarket
Cooperative: Retail Grocers Group
Location: 488 Kenilworth Blvd, Kenilworth, NJ
Photographed: November 5, 2023 and June 15, 2024
But it's looking really good and hopefully City Supermarkets will do well here! I'll be back to check it out as the transition progresses. In the meantime, here's the other stops we're making today.
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