ShopRite
Opened: 1960s
Opened: 1960s
Owner: Robert Sumas / Village Super Market
We are returning to the ShopRite of Livingston to check out some updates to the store! (See my last Livingston update here.)
Village Super Market, the owner of this ShopRite, has greatly expanded the kosher selection at the store. Nearly half of Livingston's population is Jewish, but there's no dedicated kosher supermarket in town -- although nearby West Orange has one. This ShopRite has long had a dedicated kosher aisle and kosher deli, but the selection has been expanded into part of the front-end.
The large floral department has been downsized and moved over to accommodate a much larger kosher area on the front end, with frozen and dairy cases along with prepared foods in grab-and-go containers.
This major expansion of the kosher selection comes as the Kings just up the street has added and then quickly removed a similar dedicated kosher selection, although that store never had a service kosher deli. This ShopRite is a far higher-volume store than that Kings, though, and also almost three times the size, so it's more likely ShopRite will keep this larger kosher department.
Here you can see how the kosher cases relate to the rest of the store -- this is an alcove along the front wall next to the pharmacy and kosher deli.
The opposite grocery aisle is also all kosher, and this aisle previously had some dairy and frozen cases. Now, those items have been moved to the front wall, allowing the kosher grocery selection to be greatly expanded.
This store most recently got a full renovation around 2013, although there has been small incremental work since as necessary. Some more significant work has now wrapped up: the replacement of all of the meat, dairy, and frozen cases, which in some cases was much needed.
Many of these refrigerators weren't replaced, but just painted, in the ca. 2013 remodel, meaning they were getting pretty old. Now, all of this store's refrigeration is sleek and new.
The big change is that the refrigeration is much quieter, as it's all brand-new.
I'm unsure if these black mats are placed in front of all the new cases to cover areas where flooring needs to be replaced, and the work isn't finished yet, or if they're permanently installed (which many stores do, in front of refrigerators or in places like the produce department).
This store dates to the early 1960s or so, though it's been renovated and expanded many times since. Inside, it's easy to tell that it's an older building -- although it's generally maintained well, it has the feeling of an old store. That's all but inescapable, without serious investment.
This freezer aisle had originally been set up with a row of upright cases on either side and a single, long coffin case in the middle. Eventually, the middle row was replaced, but the outer rows weren't, meaning the outer cases were pretty old while the middle ones were new. Now, they've all been replaced, with new endcaps as well.
I will say, although it's not easy to make this store look more modern, the flooring and ceiling aren't doing it any favors. The flooring is in excellent shape and has been maintained great, but matched a long-gone decor package. The grand aisle now has polished concrete flooring, and I'm not sure why they didn't do that throughout the store. The ceiling tiles have smaller raised squares in them, again making the store feel older. This exposed ceiling element over the frozen foods cases is cool, but would've looked even better with the lower coffin case in the middle.
One other thing I noticed: it looks like Wholesome Pantry might be getting a rebrand, although the only evidence I saw was this single product -- apple cider, in the produce department. The brand was introduced in 2016, then redesigned in 2020. This new design has a lot of similarities to the original 2016 logo. I wrote more about it over on RetailWatchers.
Saturday
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.
Location: 483 S Livingston Ave, Livingston, NJ
Photographed: November 5, 2025
Don't miss the rest of this weekend's posts here!
- An independent grocer prepares to switch from Foodtown to SuperFresh
- A New Jersey ShopRite expands its kosher department while doing some other updates (this post)
- Dumbo Market and ALDI celebrate openings in New York City
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