New Owner Takes Over Secaucus Green Market

SECAUCUS, NJ — A new owner has taken over the Secaucus farmers' market.

The new owners are Manny Pena and Robert Pena, first cousins. They have experience running small grocery stores in urban areas: For the past 35 years, and continuing today, the cousins own and operate Key Food franchises in New York City, one in the Bronx and another Key Food in downtown Brooklyn.

They purchased the popular Secaucus farmers' market from its previous owners, a married couple in their 70s who had owned the market for a long time and wanted to retire. The Penas officially took over operations at the "green market" last Tuesday.

Shoppers inside the store will notice many changes are already afoot. Many more changes are coming, all of them positive, Manny Pena said Tuesday.

They plan to keep the meat and fish counter. They plan to expand the deli counter, said Pena, and he wants to have more items for sale. He said he wants to expand inventory at the small grocery store, and have it be more of a "regular grocery store."

"We want it to be more of a regular grocery store, with everything you need," said Manny Pena. "Everyone keeps asking us if prices will go up. They will not."

All new cash registers will be coming.

"The store had not been updated in 20 years," he said. "It was very old school."

Also, all of the existing staff kept their jobs in the transfer. Stay tuned for more details about changes planned for the Secaucus green market.