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i find that shoprite has the best weekly sales and keeps the most products in stock when there are great deals. i think generally older stores are crappier than newer stores until they decide to renovate. im happy with the middletown shoprite, even though it could be nicer. its nicer than the hazlet pathmark but not as nice as holmdel a&p (but it has better deals so thats most important).
People in other parts of the country seem to have waaay nicer supermarkets. More modern, a lot bigger with friendlier people working in them. The miscreants at my local Pathmark mostly look like they just got out on a work-release program from the county jail.
I was just having the conversation with a friend from Tennessee who spent time in Atlanta also. I grew up in Northeast PA and went to school in Bethlehem. Two things about Jersey that surprised us both - horrible grocery stores and horrendous movie theaters.
I learned something new. I did not realize that they were basically "franchises/co-operatives". I checked and Zallie's is the group that seems to own just about every Shop Rite in South Jersey that I was able to check out. Their stores vary widely because the one in Mullica Hill near me is pretty nice, while the one in Gibbstown is more rundown.
It seems at least in the case of the Zallie's ones that they maintain the stores commensurate with the town they are in. Gibbstown is part of Greenwich Township and lies near Paulsboro. That immediate area is lower middleclass at best, but many of the surrounding towns are much nicer. Mullica Hill is the complete opposite and a rather wealthy town surrounded by other wealthier towns.
The same pattern is repeated where their stores in Medford and Voorhees (may technically be in Cherry Hill) are pretty highend and nice while the one in Clementon is pretty rundown.
When you are in the kind of places you are talking about you need to realize that for many those are actually coveted jobs that people try to turn into careers as those stores are some of the only stable employment centers around. People line up in droves when new stores open and they get the "pick of the litter" for employees. Most stores in NJ are not so fortunate and need to make do with hiring the folks that will actually take those jobs.
Acme seems to be a little different do to their strong unionization, many people actually can make a career out of working at Acme and they keep their stores nice. However, I'm sure the better pay, benefits and conditions come at a cost and drives the reason why Acme is among the more expensive options in my area.
Wegman's is consistently ranked one of the top companies to work for. They do great things for helping young employees with tuition assistance. I know a lot of friends who went to college and then went back to Wegman's to work at Corporate or went back as Pharmacists or Store Managers. I love that store. We really need one in north-central jersey.
I learned something new. I did not realize that they were basically "franchises/co-operatives". I checked and Zallie's is the group that seems to own just about every Shop Rite in South Jersey that I was able to check out. Their stores vary widely because the one in Mullica Hill near me is pretty nice, while the one in Gibbstown is more rundown.
It seems at least in the case of the Zallie's ones that they maintain the stores commensurate with the town they are in. Gibbstown is part of Greenwich Township and lies near Paulsboro. That immediate area is lower middleclass at best, but many of the surrounding towns are much nicer. Mullica Hill is the complete opposite and a rather wealthy town surrounded by other wealthier towns.
The same pattern is repeated where their stores in Medford and Voorhees (may technically be in Cherry Hill) are pretty highend and nice while the one in Clementon is pretty rundown.
Some of those stores, but not Medford, were acquired from Ahold: SuperG/Stop&Shop and those stores are better kept than some of the really old ShopRite stores (like Clementon or Berlin) in lower income areas.
Medford is high income leaning and there is no Target or Wal-Mart in town, just Acme vs. ShopRite (and small Murphy's Markets) but Zallies has made effort to renovate that store to make it competitive.
The Medford store is owned by Zallies, the only ShopRite store Zallies has in Burlington County. The Marlton, Union Mill Rd. and East Gate Sq. store are owned by Ravitz/Cherry Hill Supermarkets, and all the others in Burlington County are owned by Eickhoff.
Zallies does own most stores in SW NJ, south of Cherry Hill, and the Medford store.
Eickhoff has widely different stores: new nice ones in Delran and Cinnaminson, and a really old one catering the local area in Willingboro. Given their more aggressive expansion, I'm surprised they haven't opened a store in Burlington Twp. Perhaps they'll wait until either Acme closes or Pathmark (in Edgewater Park), or open at the former Kmart location.
Another thing that's common in other regions is that their (already nicer and complete with beer and wine in every store) supermarkets are often open 24 hours. You won't find such things in good ole' NJ... There are even towns that make the all night CVS stores close their grocery aisles at 10pm.
ShopRite has expanded to MD. My initial reaction was yuch! But at least it's better than Pantry Pride or Foodtown.
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