Foodtown (New York)

File:Foodtown.jpg

Current logo of Foodtown

Foodtown is a northeastern United States supermarket cooperative founded in 1955 by Twin County Grocers, Inc.. Their business is centered in the city and suburbs of New York (21 stores), central New Jersey (32 Stores) and eastern Pennsylvania (5 stores).

Foodtown's corporate offices are located in Avenel, New Jersey; however, each Foodtown is independently owned and operated, either by an individual person or a company that owns several stores, making it a cooperative, much like ShopRite.

Like many supermarkets, Foodtown has a discount card, but the Foodtown card is affiliated with the S&H Greenpoints program, where every dollar spent is worth 10 Greenpoints, which customers can use to buy things (much like the old Green Stamps), or get discounts in store with a certain amount of Greenpoints.

History

In the 1980s and 90's, Foodtown was a much larger and stronger competitor on Long Island and New Jersey, with its 2 biggest cooperative members, Melmarkets Inc. and Mayfair Supermarkets Inc. operating 17 stores on Long Island and 28 stores in New Jersey, respectively. At the height of its success in 1994, Twin County Grocers supplied 165 Foodtown stores and had wholesale revenue of over $1 billion.

In 1995, Dutch retailer Royal Ahold entered into a deal to purchase both Melmarkets Inc. and Mayfair Supermarkets, Inc and all 45 stores were changed to the Edwards Super Food Store banner. Two Long Island stores which were owned by Food Parade left the Foodtown cooperative and became ShopRite Supermarkets in 1997.

The resulting loss of its 2 largest cooperative members was devastating to the cooperative due to the fact that together, Melmarkets and Mayfair made up over half the volume of the Foodtown Cooperative. In 1998, the cooperative declared bankruptcy and an embezzlement scandal followed. In 2003, the former CEO of the Foodtown cooperative, Martin Vitale, pleaded guilty to embezzlement of $14 million. Following the scandal and bankruptcy, many stores converted to other banners or closed (including Vitale's 6 stores in places like Hoboken, Belleville, Old Tappan and Kearny, New Jersey; Vitale previously owned a store in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, that closed well before his bankruptcy.) In addition, Foodtown closed its warehouse and now is serviced by various wholesalers. The cooperative is still responsible for negotiating with suppliers, Foodtown advertising, promotions and marketing programs.

Since the late 1990s, Foodtown has shown a resurgence, opening 5 new stores in Pennsylvania and bringing former stores, which had left the cooperative following the scandal, back into the fold. In addition, many of the existing members have expanded and remodeled their stores. The cooperative now includes 58 independently owned and operated supermarkets.

Former locations

• Belleville, New Jersey: Originally Grand Union, later became A&P; now Food Basics.
• Brick, New Jersey: Property currently owned by the township.
• Clifton, New Jersey: Now Drug Fair.
• East Hanover, New Jersey: Now CVS.
• Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey: Became Circuit City in 1993, closed in 2001, reopend in 2006 as K&G Mens Superstore.
• Garfield, New Jersey: Originally weathervane-style A&P, store closed after A&P, which still owned the property and had returned to Garfield after taking over an old Pathmark, refused to renew the store's lease; store and adjacent strip demolished and taken over by Garfield Board of Education, school occupies site.
• Haledon, New Jersey: Now a local market.
• Hazlet, New Jersey: Located next to Bradlees, both Bradlee's and Foodtown closed and are currently vacant.
• Kearny, New Jersey: Now Modell's.
• Colonia, New Jersey: Located next to Bradlees, both Bradlee's and Foodtown closed and were converted into The Home Depot.
• Lyndhurst, New Jersey: Later converted to Edwards/Stop & Shop; was redeveloped as a high-rise housing complex.
• Matawan, New Jersey: Now C-Town.
• Mendham, New Jersey: Now King's.
• Metuchen, New Jersey: Redevelopment proposed, store currently vacant.
• Oakland, New Jersey: Was Grand Union, then Foodtown, the Jules Market. Now split in half with a Staples and Zeytinia.
• Passaic, New Jersey: There were two former Foodtowns in Passaic. One, located on Main Avenue, originally became Pioneer Supermarket, then El Unico market; space now occupied by laundromat and Rite Aid. The other, located on Van Houten Avenue at Broadway, is now a Salvation Army Thrift Store.
• Paterson, New Jersey: Now Rite Aid.
• Parsippany, New Jersey Closing December
• Saddle Brook, New Jersey: Became Office Depot; now Bally Total Fitness.
• Secaucus, New Jersey: Later Edwards then Stop & Shop, store recently closed.
• Township of Washington, New Jersey Now A&P
• Wanamassa, New Jersey: Closed following opening of Wegmans; now Spirits Unlimited.
• Wayne, New Jersey: Store located on Valley Road; became Treasure Island; store divided after Treasure Island moved to Route 23, half occupied by Drug Fair, other half vacant. (Foodtown has returned to Wayne with a location on Route 23, a former Rag Shop location.)
• Wharton, New Jersey: Store location currently split between Rite Aid and a farmers market. Was located in strip mall on North Main Street near Route 15 North ramp.
• Freeport, New York : Became Edwards, now Stop & Shop
• Massapequa, New York : Became Edwards, now King Kullen
• Lake Grove, New York: Became Stop & Shop, now Toys R Us
• Port Jefferson Station, New York: Became Stop & Shop, now Uncle Giuseppe's

External links

• Shop FoodTown Website