Shopper Input Plays Key Role in ShopRite’s New Store in Central Jersey

ShopRite will open its newest full-service store, at the Glenwood Green Shopping Plaza in Old Bridge, N.J., on March 17. The much-anticipated state-of-the-art supermarket will replace the existing ShopRite of Old Bridge.  

The community is invited to celebrate a store that incorporates their suggestions. ShopRite surveyed local residents for feedback on what they wanted in the new store. Those responses played an important role in the overall design and product selection. Implemented suggestions include 24-hour service and a café named the Knight’s Loft, which was inspired by Old Bridge High School athletic teams.

“It was important to us that the community be part of the planning, and Old Bridge residents told us they wanted premium quality and inspiration,” said Perry Blatt, director of e-commerce and business development for Village Super Market Inc., the Springfield Township, N.J.-based family-run business that owns and operates the new store. “We offer all the value and variety of ShopRite, with lots of special surprises we believe customers will love.”

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Encompassing more than 80,000 square feet, the new ShopRite of Old Bridge offers customers a curated, elevated shopping experience. Expert butchers and fishmongers will staff the meat and seafood counters, and an expanded produce department will boast organics, fresh-cut fruit and vegetables, and specialty grapes and berries. The Global Flavors Aisle will feature foods from around the world. Meal options include Ruby Foo’s Asian Fusion meals and sushi (reminiscent of the NYC restaurant), and the Shuk Kosher Kitchen with certified kosher grab-and-go meals. 

The Old Bridge location also incorporates the popular Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market brands. For example, the store will include a Fairway Artisanal Cheese Department with a master cheesemonger, Fairway Market’s Signature Olive Bar featuring 30-plus varieties of olives and pickles, and soups from Gourmet Garage.

Additionally, the Fairway Market Coffee Bar will offer everything for the coffee connoisseur, including 20 iconic Fairway bulk blends and seven bean grinders. Shoppers in a hurry can access the coffee bar through a separate entrance and check themselves out with a tap-and-pay feature at checkout.

The new store was designed with a focus on sustainability and a refrigeration system that reduces the store’s carbon footprint by half. The store also meets GreenChill standards and incorporates EcoVision glass doors and EcoShine LED lighting throughout to reduce energy consumption by more than 80%. High-efficiency heating and air conditioning and water reclamation systems further reduce energy consumption.

The existing ShopRite of Old Bridge will close on March 16, the day before the grand opening of the new location. 

The grand-opening celebration will include storewide sampling stations, face painting, raffles, a DJ, Irish step dancers and a bagpiper to mark St. Patrick’s Day. Store doors open at 8 a.m. and the first 200 customers in line will get a special swag bag, as well as free coffee and pastries. A graffiti artist will also be on site to customize hats and shirts, along with a caricature artist to create drawings of customers. 

The new ShopRite of Old Bridge will also hold a celebratory Midnight Madness sale on March 24, with special deals from midnight to 6 a.m., and future foodie events like oyster tastings and tuna, monkfish and cod cuttings. 

The store will continue to seek input from customers with the “Gotta Have It” online suggestion form at bit.ly/oldbridgerequest.

Village Super Market, a member of Wakefern Food Corp., operates a chain of 30 ShopRite supermarkets in New Jersey, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania, as well as four specialty markets under the Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market brands in Manhattan. Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern is the nation's largest retailer-owned cooperative. The company comprises more than 40 members that independently own and operate 360-plus supermarkets. Wakefern is No. 29 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 listing of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.