Upstream,
Yes, I know they are a cooperative. They own the Fresh Grocer brand - they do not own the underlying store. That was owned by a what I called by shorthand a franchisee, which is now called Drexeline I believe. They were the ones who opened up The Fresh Grocer originally. They sold the name to ShopRite and joined the WakeFern buying collective, so they were essentially a franchisee, but much smaller than the others.
I was very excited by TFG initially because I love their UPenn store. It has since come out however that they were in financial trouble. They closed a store in PA, and it reopened almost instantly as a ShopRite. They also canceled plans to open up a store in Camden.
As to the rest of what you said, ShopRite's plan in all of this was they wanted to use the Fresh Grocer name as a way to get into urban markets. That's why the store was not rebranded. Unfortunately for all parties, I think this closing probably kills the cachet of the name. WakeFern corporate did NOT run the store. That was Drexeline/The Fresh Grocer. WakeFern could do a better job running the store, although there's aren't my favorite. Village runs good stores, but from what I understand they are not in great financial shape. I recommended Saker only because they seem to be doing the best financially.
As for other options:
Whole Foods - probably not due to Metuchen expansion. They finally are adding a ton of stores though after slow expansion for a while. They are desperate for growth, recent bad financial reports.Fairway - would be great choice, great place and urban experience. They are expanding at the pace of 4 a year or so and all in the NYC-area footprint for the most part. This is my top choice along with ShopRite.Trader Joe's - unlikely for this huge footprint, although I expect them to look at Highland Park or New Brunswick within the next five years.Wegmans - does not believe in urban stores, too close to Woodbridge store.Kings - luxury supermarket from North Jersey, demo is wrong.McCaffrey's - basically a Mercer County Kings but a little nicer.Mrs. Green's - this is a Westchester County chain that just opened their first store in West Windsor. It's REALLY good and REALLY expensive, like it makes Whole Foods look cheap, so the demo is all wrong. They are looking to expand though.A&P/Pathmark - dying a slow death, may be sold and rebranded as Wild Oats.Stop & Shop - boring, poor quality, and they already are in Franklin and Highland Park.
