ShopRite Reopens in Philadelphia Food Desert
Brown’s Super Stores, operator of 10 ShopRite supermarkets in the Philadelphia area, will officially take the wraps off its newly renovated 75,000-square-foot ShopRite of Cheltenham on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Slated to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony are Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Sam Kass, senior policy adviser, healthy food initiatives for First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” Initiative; Larry Soler, president and CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America; and state Rep. Dwight Evans.
The ShopRite of Cheltenham will be home to anEinstein FastCare health clinic, which will provide customers with convenient, affordable, basic and preventive health care. This innovative feature comes courtesy of a partnership with UpLift Solutions, a nonprofit organization developed using a supermarket model created by Brown's Super Store President and CEO Jeffrey Brown; Bellin Health; and the Convenient Care Association.
As well as a wide selection of groceries and fresh produce, the revamped store will also now offer an International Market section with products from around the world; store-made rotisserie-style halal chicken; and a seafood department where customers can choose and bring home fresh fish or have it cooked for them in the store while they shop. The Cheltenham location’s extensive prepared foods department will include Chinese cuisine and sushi, in addition to a dramatically enlarged produce, deli, meat and bakery departments.
“This tremendous variety of product offerings will ensure fresh food access for our local neighbors, as well as an expanded population through [mass-transit system] SEPTA’s newly renovated bus terminal across the street,” noted Jeff Brown, president and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores. “We have taken the ShopRite of Cheltenham from a grocery store to the ‘Main Street’ of its community, offering innovative fresh food options, financial services and health care solutions.”
At the reopening ceremony, Evans will offer a progress report on his plans of a “Gateway Vision” for the store’s surrounding area. “ShopRite of Cheltenham is a classic example of the impact one store can have on a community,” said Evans, who is nationally recognized for his efforts to use supermarkets to promote economic development and community vitality. “The neighborhoods in the northwest embraced the ShopRite and in return, the Browns have embraced the community by investing here. It’s all very exciting.”
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a Keasbey, N.J.-based retailer-owned cooperative. With more than 228 ShopRite supermarkets throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than 5 million customers weekly.