Update: City Supermarket - Kenilworth, NJ

City Supermarket

Opened: summer 2024

Owner: Mitchel Lopez

Previous Tenants: Associated Supermarkets > ExpresSupermarket > Kenilworth Fresh Market

Cooperative: Retail Grocers Group

Location: 488 Kenilworth Blvd, Kenilworth, NJ

Photographed: January 15, 2025

It's time once again to visit the tiny City Supermarket in Kenilworth for a look as they wrap up the renovation. The store is just 5300 square feet, but it's becoming a more and more full supermarket every day as City rearranges the store. You can refresh your memory on this location by reading my last post here.

In the first aisle, new dairy and frozen cases line the front wall. Additional dairy cases line the side wall, with meat in the back part of the side wall.

All the fixtures and flooring are new, and City has finished installing new decor, too. The grocery aisles are well-stocked with a lot to choose from, including a lot of storebrands (I spotted Parade from Retail Grocers Group, which is what City typically uses, but I also saw some Krasdale items -- perhaps remaining from Kenilworth Fresh Market -- and some Avenue A items from the Associated Supermarket Group, along with a handful of random Best Yet and Full Circle items, also probably from ASG).

The store is cramped, but City has made the best of every inch. They're clearly serious about running this as a full supermarket rather than a slightly more extensive convenience store. They've also greatly expanded the selection, with more specialty products. They've particularly focused on bringing in more Latin American and Italian items.

They're also modifying the layout slightly, as the entrance and exit at the back have been expanded (we'll see that shortly) with two new registers that hadn't been fully set up yet when I visited.

As we get to what's essentially the grand aisle in the back, we see the newly expanded produce department, along with a new bakery department next to the deli. There's no in-store bakery, of course, but there's now a lot more fresh bread and rolls from local bakeries. Packaged pastries and cakes are in a refrigerator case next to the rear entrance and exit doors.

It looks like a brand-new store! The only downside is that it's so small, but City has done everything they can to fill the space.

You can see the space efficiency in the produce department. Everything has multiple levels, and there's a little bit of a lot of things.

The deli has also been expanded -- in selection, not in size -- with a lot more specialty cheeses and prepared foods, including a grab-and-go case of prepared foods to the left. Meanwhile, the case on the right is filled with specialty cheeses.

Looking really good!

Here's the new registers at the rear entrance and exit, with the refrigerated bakery case and another bread case next to them.

Packaged cold cuts along with more specialty selections like fresh-made mozzarella, cured meats, and fresh pasta are in the back to the left of the new entrance and exit.

The register is currently where the people were standing and waiting in the picture below, and it's just one small counter. But it makes sense to have another register at the back. And I'm so happy to see this store turn out so well!

There's so much more to see this weekend! Read about it all here.