As Highland Park faces the closing of the Stop & Shop grocer this coming March, local officials have been looking for new ways to provide residents with easy access to food. Employees are nervous about finding new work, while shoppers feel inconvenienced and even cut off from their only accessible grocer.
The previous mayor, Gayle Brill Mittler, had spoken to the corporate offices of the Stop & Shop and the owners of the property. When asked about anything that could be done to prevent the closing, she responded that, “There wasn’t much [the borough] could do,” as the decision to not renew the lease by Stop & Shop was not her decision to make. The reason for Stop & Shop’s choice was that it has not been profitable operating a grocery store on a smaller scale.
This change to the walkable landscape of Highland Park is something especially consequential for the elderly population which relies on the close distance of the grocer for their food. Local businesses would also no longer have a source of easily accessible ingredients and supplies. Town administrators and officials have sought to expand access to existing food programs and organize shuttle buses to nearby grocery stores in central New Jersey.
“There has been some interest from other supermarkets but nothing definitive at this time,” the borough wrote in a document posted on January 9. The post added that, “The borough is working closely with Middlesex County and state officials to identify what sort of support and incentives are available to attract a new tenant.”
The town is also working with the property owner, a family with ties to the community, to create a list of grocery stores that fit with Highland Park's location and demographic. The current mayor, Elsie Foster, says that the borough will wait to find a new grocery store and take as much time as necessary to ensure it fits with the community.