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TOUR: ShopRite - Stroudsburg, PA

ShopRite of Stroudsburg
Owner: Robert Sumas / Village Super Market
Opened: 2019
Previous Tenants: Bon-Ton
Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.
Location: 344 Stroud Mall Rd, Stroudsburg, PA
Photographed: November 29, 2019
Welcome to the largest Village Super Market-owned ShopRite! At nearly 88,000 square feet, this massive former Bon-Ton department store was transformed in 2019 into the new ShopRite of Stroudsburg. We saw the old store a few days ago, and the difference is amazing. 
The space has been completely transformed inside and out (see the "before" and some more history on the space here), and now has entrances on the corner facing away from the indoor mall. As we'll see, there's also access to and from the store from the indoor mall.
When we enter on the corner, we turn right to enter the grand aisle which runs along the front of the store. Produce is in the front part of the grand aisle, with bakery, seafood, beer/wine, and the barbecue counter on the left side in an island and deli, cheese, and pizza on the right side, which is the front wall of the store. At the back of the grand aisle is the bar and seating area, along with the diner and sub shop. Meats line the back wall with HABA in the first few aisles, and dairy/frozen at the far side of the store. Bells and whistles aside, it's a fairly standard Village layout, once you get past the service counters of the grand aisle.
Notice that, if you come in the front of the store, you have to turn 90 degrees to the right to enter the grand aisle with the grocery aisles running parallel to the front of the store.
And it's a beautiful grand aisle! The whole store is very well-designed.
We've seen this decor package in a few other stores before, and I think it looks very good even in renovated stores (like Elizabeth, although I'm not a huge fan of the flooring there).
Notice the addition of a service "produce butcher", something that higher-end stores like Wegmans have in some newer and larger locations.
Although the store is large, it does have the usual Village tendency to lean into clutter. If it were really crowded, I would imagine it would be somewhat unpleasant.
And on the left side of the grand aisle we get into bakery, with a beautiful donut display at the front.
Also present are some beautiful pretzels and bagels...
Village has a great program for bread and bagels, and there's a large bread and rolls department in the bakery too...
Baked goods are also in islands in the middle of the grand aisle, with deli on the other side.
The Village Food Garden, or prepared foods and catering departments, takes up the back of the grand aisle.
Check out these breads! I can confirm from personal experience they are delicious.
And here's a look across the middle of the store from the dividing aisle. On the other side of the division is the seafood counter.
I love the big blue fish at the back of the seafood counter.
The store must do a lot of volume, although I haven't been back since my first visit. I wonder if it's still so prepared foods-heavy -- which requires a lot of prep and is more susceptible to shrink.
La Piazetta for pizza and other Italian foods at the back of the grand aisle, with the diner and sub shop around the corner.

This area also has its own entrance and exit. Opposite these two is Bin 37, the bar at the back of the grand aisle which also functions as the store's seating area.
And in the seafood island opposite that is Mr. Perry's Smokehouse, the barbecue station (named after Perry Sumas, one of the company's founders).
Here's the entrance to the food hall, with checkouts, condiments, and so on.
And then we get into the rest of the store, which is a pretty normal if very attractive supermarket.
Notice the strong promotion of the storebrands here, with Bowl & Basket and Paperbird taking up massive wall space.
And a look at the beautiful HABA department. I hadn't been seeing a lot of work in Village's NJ stores for some time, so I was wondering about the company's health at the time this store opened. Then I visited this one and was really blown away. Not only did they design a fantastic supermarket, but one that's really different from competitors. A few years later, I'm now a little worried about Village again because of some odd decisions they've made in their ShopRite stores and relating to the Fairway stores they acquired in New York City.
Near the front of the HABA department is the dietitian's office. Note that this store does not have a pharmacy, and I do not believe the old store had one either.
The grocery aisles are sleek and clean, but not that exciting. Here, we can see the clutter is less of an issue than in the grand aisle.
There were quite a few branded departments in this store, such as Kitchen & Co. for homegoods like kitchenwares. These are, as far as I know, all custom designed for this store.
As we can see, there's a bit of a larger than usual kitchenwares selection here.
You'll recognize this signage from stores like Elizabeth. Looking great here too!
This signage, too, is just like Elizabeth.
Dairy and frozen are at the far side of the store. Wouldn't Elizabeth look so much better with nice polished concrete like this store? Or is that just me?
ShopRite from Home department in the front corner, including a large staging area. Older Village stores do not have these staging areas, although they're being added to quite a few.
Presumably because of this store's size, it seemed to have a slightly larger than average seasonal merchandise selection, and other nonfoods like the kitchenwares we saw.
And now for a look at the front-end! Notice that the registers are split between traditional registers (seen here) and express self-checkouts on the other side of customer service straight ahead. Looking great though!
In my opinion, this is a store that can not just stand up to the new GIANT in East Stroudsburg, but can easily beat it on services and selection. It's up there with the best of the Village stores, too. We're all done with Stroudsburg now, but up next we're going to head a few miles west on route 80 to check out the next town here on The Market Report!

Comments

  1. Thanks for the informative article and great photos. A number of questions and comments come to mind, although I will have to make two separate posts due to a limit on the length of any one post. Below are some of the questions and comments that I have:

    *The exact opening date of this ShopRite was November 1, 2019.

    *I was very impressed with this ShopRite's prepared foods section, especially its bakery.

    *The supermarket also seems to have an impressive selection of general merchandise (such as kitchenwares). Although the ShopRite of Greater Morristown is a smaller store, I am surprised that location carries relatively little in the way of general merchandise, given that Greater Morristown is Village's flagship supermarket.

    *IMO, the exterior appearance of this new ShopRite of Stroudsburg is beautiful and is far more attractive than the exterior of the ShopRite of Greater Morristown.

    *I did not realize that Greater Morristown lacks Village's most recent decor package (although the decor is first-rate at both Stroudsburg and Greater Morristown). Aside from Elizabeth (which you mentioned), what other Village ShopRites have the same decor package as Stroudsburg?

    *Did you (or anyone else reading this comment) get a chance to visit the parts of the Stroud Mall other than the ShopRite? If so, what condition would you say this mall is in? Elsewhere on the Internet, I have read that this is a dead or dying mall, and the fact that the other anchors are JCPenney and a furniture outlet (that occupies a portion of a former Sears) gives me little hope for the Stroud Mall's future. (That said, I expect the ShopRite to thrive for a long time to come regardless of what happens to the rest of the mall.)

    *I know that Village operates other supermarkets in New York that are not ShopRites, but as far as ShopRites are concerned, the only stores outside of New Jersey which Village currently operates are the ShopRites of Stroudsburg, Timonium (MD), Bruckner Blvd (Bronx, NY), and Pelham Parkway (Pelham, NY, in a former Fairway). I am also aware of two former ShopRites outside NJ which Village operated: the previous Stroudsburg supermarket (open from circa 1980 to 2019) and the ShopRite of White Oak (in Silver Spring, MD; both this and the Timonium location were former Super Fresh stores). Besides those two stores, are there any other ShopRites outside New Jersey which Village previously operated?

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    1. Thanks for the thoughts here! Here's an answer to some of your questions:

      - The decor seen here is present in Stroudsburg (of course), Elizabeth, Somerset, Hammonton, Hillsborough, Union (in part -- I believe the grand aisle has been renovated to match this, but the rest of the store has not), West Orange, Millburn (renovation in progress), Rio Grande, Bruckner Boulevard, and Pelham Parkway.

      - I did not visit the rest of the mall, so I really have no idea what condition the rest of the mall is in.

      - I believe those are all of the store outside NJ that Village has operated.

      More on the comment to your next post...

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    2. Zachary, thanks very much for your response, and I apologize for this belated reply on my part.

      Although I do not know the official names of these decor packages, (if such names exist) it is interesting to compare the Village ShopRite decor found in Greater Morristown with that found in Stroudsburg. Both decor packages are excellent, although I have a slight preference for the Stroudsburg decor package. Which of these two decor packages do you prefer?

      Also, I am curious as to which Village ShopRites feature the Greater Morristown decor package. Apart from Greater Morristown (obviously), I believe this decor is found in the ShopRites of Chatham, Livingston, Springfield, Stirling, and Union (in portions of that store). Did I miss any locations or mistakenly include a store which should not have been listed?

      Besides featuring a few new elements, the decor found in the recently opened Village ShopRite of Old Bridge appears to combine elements of both the Greater Morristown and Stroudsburg decor packages. Consequently, I think it is distinct enough to qualify as its own decor package. I believe that the only new ShopRites that Village will definitely build are replacement stores for locations in East Orange, Hillsborough, and Watchung. (Village cancelled its plans to build a store in Atlantic City.) When those new ShopRites open, I presume they will feature the same decor found in the Old Bridge supermarket.

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    3. Agreed, both are excellent! I would say all of those are similar enough that they're barely more than variations on the same decor package (which they've used since roughly 2014). One of the ways to distinguish among the variations is the style of the produce sign. The earlier ones -- Greater Morristown-style -- have the name of the town or a local landmark ("Livingston Farms"). Around 2017-2018, they switched to a green sign that says "Produce", then in 2020, it was to an orange-on-black produce sign. Here's my rough breakdown of the Village decor packages:

      Orange Produce Sign:
      Stroudsburg, West Orange, Elizabeth, Union (in part), Old Bridge, Pelham, Hillsborough*, Hammonton, Rio Grande, Somers Point**

      Green Produce Sign:
      Bruckner Blvd, Somerset

      "Landmark" Farms:
      Greater Morristown, Livingston, Springfield, Chatham, Chester, Union (in part)

      Village Market variations:
      Absecon, Bernardsville, East Orange*, Garwood, Vineland-Landis, Washington, Marmora

      Earlier decor packages:
      English Creek, Galloway*, Watchung*

      Other:
      Timonium

      *These are set to be replaced in the near future.
      **Somers Point is currently being renovated.

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    4. Zachary, this is a superb description of the decor found in ShopRites which Village operates. Thanks so much for writing it!

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  2. Here are my remaining thoughts, which I could not incorporate into my previous post:

    *I am surprised that ShopRite has not experienced more success in the Lehigh Valley and in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially given how dominant the chain is in all regions of New Jersey. Perhaps there is something quintessentially "New Jersey" about the chain that hurts its prospects outside of the Garden State (although I am sure there are very profitable ShopRite stores outside of New Jersey). The paucity of Village and RoNetco ShopRites in the Lehigh Valley and in Northeastern Pennsylvania is especially surprising. Does anybody know why ShopRite has not experienced more success in these regions?

    By the way, below is a link to a portion of JoshAustin610's Flickr Companion Page which lists the ShopRites in these regions (along with one former ShopRite in Central Pennsylvania) that he is aware of:

    http://joshaustin610.blogspot.com/2014/02/shop-rite-pa-lehigh-valley-reading-nepa.html

    The number of current and former ShopRite locations in these regions is considerably fewer than I would have expected.

    P.S. There are many mistakes on Josh's Flickr Companion Page (and in the descriptions pertaining to the photos he uploads to Flickr). Such a comment is in no way intended to be rude; rather, I am just trying to be helpful to anybody who visits Josh's page or Flickr photo stream. The only reason why I know Josh made many mistakes is because I have access to Newspapers.com and have spent time researching the opening and closing dates of many supermarkets. When Josh uploaded his photos to Flickr and made his Flickr Companion Page, he did not have access to Newspapers.com. (I am not even sure Newspapers.com was in existence at the time.) I think that Josh did an incredible job given the information that he had. I am grateful for all his hard work, and his photos on Flickr and his Flickr Companion Page serve as very useful resources.

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    1. - While I don't know for sure, I think that the Lehigh Valley ShopRites that have operated in the past were not in fact owned by RoNetco or Village. At least one (at 1742 Stefko Blvd in Bethlehem which later moved to 3926 Nazareth Pike, now a GIANT) was owned by Saker Supermarkets, at the time called Foodarama. At one time, Foodarama also owned gas stations (one in Allentown and one in Muhlenberg), as well as free-standing drugstores. I believe all of the Lehigh Valley ShopRites prior to the existing Bethlehem one were owned by Foodarama, as I can't find any other member names associated with the stores, but I'm not positive. I don't have any good explanation for their lack of success in the Lehigh Valley, beyond a vague understanding of the dominance of Weis and GIANT in this region. I don't know more specifically why the coop does not have any significant presence in the area.

      Agreed on your other comments, his pictures and records are an incredible resource but at times it's necessary to check them with other sources.

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