Supermarkets Still Struggle To Open In New Jersey 'Food Deserts'
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Only three of the nearly 40 supermarkets opened by major food retailers in New Jersey between 2011 and the start of this year were in neighborhoods considered "food deserts," or places with limited access to fresh, healthy and affordable food.
Some of the largest food retailers promised four years ago to open new stores or offer more fresh fruits and vegetables in existing locations in communities with no supermarkets. Most have struggled to meet their goals, according to a review by The Associated Press.
A Save-A-Lot in Atlantic City, a Bottom Dollar in Bellmawr and a Costco in North Plainfield were the only three to open in food deserts.
Camden, which hasn't seen a large grocery store open there for more than 30 years, is waiting for a ShopRite that was first promised in 2013. It's not clear when that project will open.
A PriceRite market opened in Camden in 2014 after the poor city of about 77,000 had gone more than a year without a major supermarket.
"You get in the old question of whether or not there is a moral obligation on the part of the industry and companies to accommodate citizens. I think there is," said John Niccolai, president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 464A. "On the other hand, we live in a capitalist society. Do businesses have an obligation to open in areas where they can't maximize profits?"
This year has also seen the subtraction of dozens of supermarkets around the state after Montvale-based A&P went bankrupt.
Niccolai said that while more than 60 of the A&P stores in his district that includes most of the state and parts of New York have been sold to other companies, about 50 stores remain shuttered.
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