NJ town of 10,000 gets grocery store after half a century without one

There is a Jersey Shore town that, believe it or not, has had no grocery store for half a century.

I experienced a little of this once. When I lived in Plainsboro, the only supermarket in town, other than a specialty Asian food market that lacked a lot of essentials, was a SuperFresh. It closed in 2012 and left the sizeable town without a grocer for five years.

bunch of vegetables

Imagine 50 years.

That’s been the reality for the nearly 10,000 people living in Keansburg since the mid- 1970s. Safeway was the last one they had. In recent times, people living here have had to travel out of town to places like ShopRite in Hazlet or Stop & Shop in Keyport to buy food, about a 10-mile round trip.

After all this time, Keansburg is just days away from finally having a grocery store again. A Market Fresh Supermarket is opening in the Keansburg Plaza on Main Street on July 1. According to the Asbury Park Press, it’s an 11,000-square-foot store that may be small but will provide everything you need.

woman in brown coat walking on hallway

"You'll be able to do your full shopping here," co-owner Kumar Patel told the Asbury Park Press. “Everything you will see in a supermarket, we have figured out how to compact it in 11,000 square feet, giving folks the opportunity to shop local, stay local.”

The mayor told the Asbury Park Press that he's thrilled.

“It will give residents, especially our senior population, the opportunity to buy fresh produce and meats without having to travel out of town," Keansburg Mayor George Hoff told the Asbury Park Press.

I wish them many years of success and a huge grand opening.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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