New Supermarket Expected To Open In Downtown New Brunswick Later This Year

Downtown New Brunswick is getting a new supermarket.

Key Food Marketplace plans to open in September in vacant space in the New Brunswick Health and Wellness Plaza, according to a news release from the city.

According to the news release:

The store plans to offer a large selection of fresh seafood, meat and poultry, and a large produce section that will include organic and conventionally grown products. A significant amount of that produce will come from farms in New Jersey, California, Florida and Texas.

The store will offer home-delivery service and feature a food bistro that will include a coffee bar, salad bar, juice bar, bubble tea, sushi and sashimi.

It will also have some wholesale-priced products.

“The Marketplace will be a critical component of addressing the City’s commitment to make healthy, fresh food readily available to our residents,” Mayor Jim Cahill said in a prepared statement. “We are excited about (Store operator Kevin) Kim’s vision for the Marketplace and believe it will serve our community well.”

The plaza is owned and managed by the city’s Parking Authority Board, which approved a 20-year lease at a special April 24 meeting.

“After a thorough search for a new grocery store, we feel that we have found the best operator for the space,” Mitch Karon, Executive Director for the New Brunswick Parking Authority, said in a prepared statement. “Renovations will begin soon and residents should be able to do their grocery shopping in the downtown before the fall.”

The store will open in the space formerly occupied by The Fresh Grocer, which closed last year after the city said the store owed the Parking Authority some $784,000 in back rent and other expenses, according to mycentraljersey.com.

According to the Key Food website, the business began operating in Brooklyn in 1937 and now has 180 stores in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. All of its stores are individually owned and operated, which allows the company to “meet the diverse needs of each neighborhood” it serves, the website said.

Patch file photo; Key Food opened in Long Beach, New York in 2013