Hazlet Foodtown Awaits the End

Bare, unlit shelves in the dairy case at the Hazlet Foodtown.

We were out of town for New Year's, so we didn't see the article in Matawan-Aberdeen Patch saying that the Foodtown in Hazlet is closing on 25 February. So when we dropped in to pick up a few things tonight, well - Yikes! The shelves were nearly empty and the place was eerily quiet, like one of those post-Armageddon movies like Mad Max or The Stand. Even outside, we thought the store might be closed. There were no customers. No shopping carts rolling through the aisles. No announcements on the public address system. The stock on the shelves was only one or two products deep and selection was shockingly sparse. The deli had no staff and no pre-packaged deli meats. Nearly all of the frozen foods were gone and the section was darkened.

We chatted with a pleasant but obviously sad sales clerk. She expected to be out of work in a month.