APOCALYPTIC STOP & SHOP!
Location: 859 South State Route 17, Paramus, NJ
A few weeks ago, I passed by the old Stop & Shop in Paramus. Was stunned to see it still standing and in such disrepair. I tried to stop and take some photos but the parking lot entrances were chained off. When I got home, I checked Google Maps and found excellent views of the store! All the images you see here are screenshots from Google Maps, which is kinda lazy, but you know what they say... safety first!
Stop & Shop acquired this location from Grand Union back in 2001 and as you can see, little was done to the exterior during the entire run of the store. Same with the interior where GU's 80's remodel lived on. At the time of the conversion, I was convinced that S&S would hold onto some of GU's strengths but this was not the case and a little naive of me to even hope for that. S&S stripped out the best of GU and was satisfied being as mediocre as they could be in comparison. The store would last over two decades with zero updates, closing on January 3, 2022. At the time, reports were that S&S was going to build a brand-new store on the property once the strip and former Kmart were torn down. Still not clear what happened with these plans, but they never materialized. Costco was given the green light last October to build a new store here, but doesn't seem to be in any kind of a hurry. It is pretty crazy to see this abandoned shopping center on the insane retail juggernaut that is Route 17 in Paramus.
Back entrance is chained off.
The strip mall to the left and the former Kmart all abandoned.
In better days. Still.. that sign is a typesetting disaster. This store always seemed to do decent business despite being extremely outdated.
And in the good ol' day! Loved me some Grand Union back in the day. For additional coverage of this store, click here.
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