Supermarkets Plus IGA - Elizabeth, NJ

Happy mother's day everyone! We're back here in Elizabeth, NJ at the brand-new Supermarkets Plus IGA at Pointe Grande Plaza (nothing like adding an e when in doubt). It's at East Grand and Division Streets, just blocks from CitiGrocer . . .

Supermarkets Plus has not yet been built in this aerial photo from Google Maps, and CitiGrocer is still under construction. So this area went from zero supermarkets to two brand-new (new-build!) supermarkets in just under two years. CitiGrocer, at about 40,000 square feet, opened in fall 2015, and Supermarkets Plus IGA opened on Cinco de Mayo of 2017. We saw the store early in its construction when it was planned to be a Foodtown, last September:

The Regional Industries (a garbage-collection company) facility directly next door is not . . . um . . . appealing. So it was nice to see, when I returned a few weeks ago, that a fence has been put up between their property and the new development. You can see it to the left below.

The store was nearly complete at this point and was actually closer to opening than I had thought.

The carts were all lined up and ready to go, but chained up:

But back to today. The outside looks fantastic and the sign is colorful and eye-catching. The entire property is brand-new, so most of it has not yet open. The parking lot is, of course, newly paved, so it's a pleasure to drive on. One problem: the parking lot was EMPTY. Unfortunately, so was the store. I hope that the other retail spaces opening up will bring more traffic to the mall. Maybe it's just because it's mother's day, but for a brand-new and beautiful store, there were too few people.

Heading inside, we're greeted by a large, pleasant grand aisle. Bakery and deli are immediately to your left when you enter, followed by hot food, seafood, and meat.

Custom rug immediately inside the entrance.

The view from the entrance, above. To the right is a small café seating area with bread and rolls facing into the store.

The entrance is below the blank wall to the left of the ELIZABETH graphic (pretty cool, isn't it?). The bakery extends along the side wall.

Looking back up towards the front. The café is right behind those bread cases.

The store is beautiful and spacious (although it comes in at only 25,000 square feet). But completely devoid of shoppers!

You can see the hot food counter to the right above.

Service meat/seafood are right past that in the back corner.

Now that's something you don't see everyday . . . the New Jersey, not New York skyline! This is most likely Jersey City.

Looking along the back aisle. I love how most of the refrigerator cases have doors!

The grocery aisles are wide and clean - and empty. But perfectly stocked!

I don't know if I've ever seen a supermarket so well-stocked as this one. We'll see if that continues. (I also noticed that that Seven Farms tomato sauce, which is also sold at Food Bazaar, is $0.40 cheaper here!)

This dairy case is along the back wall. The last aisle contains dairy and frozen cases.

The back corner of the store. There are ten aisles in total, plus the grand aisle.

The last aisle.

I love all of the graphics and signs around the store!

Now most supermarkets can take a tip from Supermarkets Plus and get rid of all the JUNK blocking up their aisles! These aisles are wide enough and uncluttered enough to handle big crowds.

An IGA promotional sign in front. They seem to be heavily emphasizing the IGA brand around here because it's virtually unknown in this part of the country.

More great photos (Bayway on the left) and graphics in the front corner opposite the entrance.

The Home Towne (again, gotta love the e) Pharmacy is not yet open. It's still awaiting its license from the city. The customer service counter is next to this area, then the checkouts.

A look down the front-end from the entrance side. You can see how empty it is here!

The café is accessible only after going through the registers, which is a good design as it forces people to pay before eating their food; it also prevents people from having to negotiate back through the registers backwards after paying for their food.

As we were checking out, our cashier informed us that the store was offering free pastries for mother's day. So being that I was there with my mother and my grandmother, we took it. Our cashier had to get a void for the computer system, so she said to a group of managerial-looking people standing nearby, "Nasser, come here, I need a void." That is, Nasser Nasser, the co-owner of Supermarkets Plus, who was at the store seeing how things were going. He was very nice and asked us what we thought of the store, then wished us a happy mother's day. It was a pleasant experience overall.

P.S. If you're a resident of the city of Elizabeth, Supermarkets Plus is offering a 5% discount to all city residents (with valid ID). Definitely worth mentioning, and definitely worth checking out this store!

Supermarkets Plus IGA

838 E Grand St, Elizabeth, NJ 07201
Open Daily 7AM-10PM
http://www.supermarketsplusiga.com
(908) 469-7777

My Rating: ★★★★★