Former Grand Union – Landing, NJ

Location: 175 Lakeside Blvd, Landing, New Jersey

For our last stop on Grand Union Week, we're visiting the abandoned Grand Union in Landing, New Jersey. The store surivied until the company went under in 2001. It was one of a handfull that did not go to Stop & Shop but rather was taken over by Pathmark. Shuttered once again when that company went under in 2015. Shortly after, Food Emporium/Imperium, a local operator, opened here to disastrous results not even lasting two years. 

Opening date for the Grand Union not known but historic aerials show it being open in 1979. I would guess it was built in the late 70's as it is larger than other stores built in the 70s, coming in at 35,000 square feet. The late 70's saw a bit of a boon for Grand Union in North Jersey as they built new stores in Newton, Sparta, and Parsippany. Newton and Parsippany would not go the distance. 

I first stumbled upon this shopping center a few years back. The Grand Union building had red X signs mounted to the walls indicating the building was unsafe and possibly condemned. I remember looking in the front windows but couldn't really see anything. If my memory serves me right, there was some sort of temporary wall along the front-end. Doesn't make sense now but I swear I could barely see a thing other than a few Pathmarm remnants near the windows. Upon my recent visit, I could see clearly into the store, even more so than others who have been here as windows have been added to the left side. To the right side is now a Dollar Tree which has recently opened. The building overall appears to have been fixed up, at least enough to elevate itself out of its condemned state. 

A look at the previous eras of the store... 

Photo courtesy of Kathy Wescott Burke on facebook

Photo courtesy of Josh Austin's flickr

Photo courtesy of The Market Report

We'll begin on the right side where the Dollar Tree is now located. This was previously the produce side of the store. The entrance is in the same place as it was for Grand Union, the sidewalk having been redone so no scars left from the past. 

Entrance way identical to the GU days. The brick wall to the right having been the original outer wall of the store. Kinda freaky walking in here as little had changed. 

Once you hang a right into the Dollar Tree, you see the entire space, from floor to ceiling, is all new. One of the nicest Dollar Trees I've ever been in! Bright, clean, more modern flooring than the standard Dollar Tree. Very nice use of the space. 

Screenshot from TD3's video on YouTube

Here we can have a look at how this space looked originally, with the produce department to the right and the first few aisles straight ahead. 

In this photo that I took, you can see the fresh, new wall for the Dollar Tree on the right.

Moving to the left reveals Grand Unions famous front-end light boxes having never been repainted, unlike the Basking Ridge store. 

Courtesy of The Market Report

An older photo from Zach showing the shelving still in place. Pathmark's checkout stands removed, revealing hints of GU's red flooring. Pathmark added an office on the right and a customer service counter to the left side, most likely added after the A&P takeover. If you look closely, you can see the "path to savings" flooring just before the aisle shelves. 

Back to my recent visit, the rear wall of the store has been completely removed. We can see all the way back to the cement wall of the building. 

Now if we move past the left entrance of the store, we come to an area where new doors and windows have been added to encourage new tenants to take the space. This opens up views of the interior of which have just recently been made available. Here we can see that some of Pathmark's decor remains, along with Grand Union's unusual drop ceiling configuration, which most likely came during the 80's remodel. The pharmacy was located on this side and just ahead is the bakery. 

Everything has been stripped out now, including the flooring.

Here you can see the windows I was photographing through, just recently added. 

The strip mall on the far side of the property is riddled with abandoned storefronts, most certainly falling on hard times when the Pathmark shuttered. All indications are both the Grand Union and Pathmark were extremely successful with little to no competition nearby. 

1979

The parking lot is quite massive. Doubtful the spots up in this area were ever needed. 

Foos Imperium signage remains, reminding everyone of the miserable final years of this once successful supermarket.