Another grocery store coming ( old a&p)
https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/morris/business/shopwell-grocery-store-replacing-shuttered-ap-supermarket-in-morris-county/829695/
Top of the hill
Apr '22
Never heard of Shopwell, so I googled and found this:
https://www.newjerseyhills.com/mt_olive_chronicle/news/update-shopwell-in-budd-lake-better-hold-that-thought/article_bf12a658-722d-5155-b34a-4858ba313498.html
Apparently there is one of these highland markets by shopwell in west milford where their old a&p was and is open if anyone wants to check it out.
I found this tweet, The owner had another store and is closing it and opening one in the old A&P:
https://twitter.com/marketreport_nj/status/1514954963440525312?s=20&t=BkzVJwOnwl33jNLm6PAumQ
Apr '22
Oh Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It's not a Trader Joes.
Oh the horror.
That accompanying article, https://independent.marketreportblog.com/2022/01/update-highlands-market-by-shopwell.html, would seem that in the best of times it wouldn't be competition for Shoprite or Weiss.
Project is moving full speed ahead. Village Bar & Liquors is closing 10/2022. The mall owner doesn't want a bar operating on the property and the Village Liquor license is being purchased by Shopwell.
Rumor is that it won't be "Shop Well", it will be "Super Fresh" which was a brand that the old A&P used to operate under. Are the two related? Beats me. Who and whatever they are, that strip mall needs an anchor store or it's going down. Anyone remember the Potbelly Pancake House,The International Buffet, the ice cream place or the bagel shop? All gone.
John - I remember The International Buffet ---- had many lunches there. It was awesome how included in the buffet was the made to order sushi station in the back.
Dec '22
I noticed a new sign above the old A&P...."ShopFresh". It's not open yet and Village Bar & Liquors is closed. There's very little info about ShopFresh on the internet. It could be an upscale supermarket or a bargain-basement outfit. Anyone remember when there was the "Shop-n-Bag" in the shopping center at the bottom of the hill, where the big medical facility is now? There was Holy Wong, C'Mere Cupcake, Pietro's, Blockbuster, a liquor store, a dry cleaner........All gone.
Jan '23
There was never a “shop-n-bag” in that location. There was a A&P and later a FoodBasics .
Odd. On the realtor site for this property, it states the new ShopFresh Market will have a hardware store inside. I can't say I have ever seen that before. Could be a typo though.
"ABOUT THE PROPERTY
Anchored by Brand New ShopFresh Market with new Do It Best Hardware store inside".
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/7-Naughright-Rd-Mount-Olive-NJ/26815851/
Greg
Apparently that's a Co-op hardware business. There's one in Califon and Denville. Here's a link to their company:
https://www.doitbestonline.com/
Very strange. ShopFresh has no internet presence at all. No web site, no Facebook or any ads. I can only assume this is a stand alone store
Phil- I had looked at their website earlier too. I was intrigued to see it was a Co-op. Interesting approach to join in with the supermarket. Combing certain brick and mortar stores may be a good way for them to increase their success.
Greg
My thoughts too. When I was a manager for R&S Strauss, we had two stores that operated within the Valley Fair Shopping Centers in Livingston and in Little Ferry. They were essentially a bunch of smaller businesses that leased space from the main store and we all provided different sections of products.
There was one company that had a hardware dept. in there and another with toys, etc. It seemed to be a decent business model which worked for all involved. The only odd thing was that the clothing dept. was closed on Sundays in the Little Ferry store due to Bergen County's anachronistic "Blue Laws", which always caused a lot of confusion to customers.
Any updates on when this store is opening? Pretty disgusted with the poor quality vegetables at Shoprite.
Feb '23
On Feb 8th they posted they'd be opening in about 2 weeks on their FB page. So hopefully only another week if they're still on target. They just posted yesterday that they're doing on the spot interviews this Saturday so it appears they're close to opening.
Scheduled to open tomorrow (March 3rd), according to the sign on the highway (46W). Nearly a year since it was first announced. Hope it's decent.
My boyfriend just got a job there. He was there helping to stock shelves and organize. They have an amazing halal Chinese buffet and seafood. it’s not going to be a perfect grand opening but it should be a decent store once the kinks are ironed out
Opening today at noon as per their FB page. They have a sales circular posted on their page as well.
https://www.facebook.com/ShopFreshMarketplace
Things don't look to be going so well for ShopFresh. I've been in there a bunch of times and there are never any other customers. The seafood section never opened. They have 3+ aisles devoted to hardware under a "Do It Best" moniker. Strange as Lowes and Home Depot are 8 minutes away. This location needed a focused supermarket and so far it is an unfocused, under-stocked empty store. They are connected to a liquor store that has more traffic than the supermarket itself. It's really odd as ShopRite Netcong is no prize but they have a lot of customers. That parking lot is a disaster and pulling out onto Route 46 is a mess. ShopFresh has a better location but they seem to have tried to be all things to all people and it's not working.
I've seen the prices on their facebook page and that's probably why they can't compete with ShopRite especially these days with inflation . I like the Netcong ShopRite even though they don't have some items their bigger stores carry there is a surprising amount in that small store and it's never so crowded that you can't get through it quickly .
Problem is they should not have taken out part of the old A&P to put the gym in as that should have stood part of the current Shop Fresh. Was a stupid move to subdivide that building. If a known quantity like a Stop and Shop or Acme, not currently in the area, came in, it would have been a better fit. This store will not last long and hopefully will be replaced by a known supermarket that can compete with the other food stores in the area.
Jun '23
I was waiting for someone to bring this up. Yeah the clock is ticking for them. The seafood section smelled foul on opening weekend, the produce is always wilted, the milk is a few days from expiration, etc. We were there day 1 and several times since...for a few things only. Only getting worse.
Honestly when it was announced that that particular grocer was coming in, after a quick google search and some reading, I knew before they even started the renovations it would not hit the mark by far. A friend lives close to it and gave it 2-3 chances. A big thumbs down all the way from him.
Nothing to do with the topic , but from being lactose intolerant I started buying lactose free 2% milk that is good for like two months before it's expiration date .Tastes like milk to me for cereal and french toast and you don't have to worry about it turning sour soon after buying . The lactose free skim milk tasted weird and switching to 2% cured that .
I was looking forward to having this store as a third option to Shoprite and Weis.
There are several things about this store I do not like, and in my opinion one of their downfalls is not mailing their weekly flyers. When in the store, I asked at the courtesy desk about this, and was told I can pick up a flyer once inside the store.
Really?
People want to know in advance what the weekly prices are and what’s on sale. I for one don’t want to waste time searching for the flyer online - not to mention the inconvenience of reading it in that format.
Jun '23
I've given it three tries, the last one was 2 days ago. There is a funky sour milk smell that pervades the lobby/cart area when you enter.
Very poorly stocked food shelves this last time but lots of hardware items.
What really struck me was the meat; it was old, the beef had turned from red to brown and the chicken had a sheen to it. Milk was dated 2 days from then. I seemed to be the only customer in the store at the time and I left without making a purchase.
I'm very disappointed as I was also looking for an alternative to the usual food stores. I'm so sorry to say that I don't think they will be in business for long.
I very much want this supermarket to succeed but the items I stop in for are either out of stock or look inedible. At some point I will learn to give up hope completely.
As was intimated in an earlier post the track record is not stellar, unfortunately.
I’d settle for an Aldi or Lidl.
Jun '23
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