TOUR: ShopRite - Thornwood, NY

ShopRite of Thornwood

Owner: ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc.

Opened: unknown

Previous Tenants: unknown

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 960 Broadway, Thornwood, NY

Photographed: March 2020

Today's store tour is one that a friend has been encouraging me to get to for a long time. It's his hometown ShopRite! Unfortunately, I know very little about the history of this store. This mall according to Historic Aerials was built sometime between 1974 and 1993, though that's not much help. What confuses me is that it has none of the hallmarks of the Big V-turned-SRS stores that dot Westchester County and the Hudson Valley (the fake stone walls, the multi-layered triangle or trapezoid facade, the corrugated metal overhangs). In fact, it almost looks more like a Grand Union than a Big V -- but I have no evidence that this ever was a Grand Union. The other odd part is that the store is only about 40,000 square feet, quite small for a relatively new suburban ShopRite. I'd imagine this store was built as something else and later acquired by ShopRite, perhaps even in the last 20-25 years under SRS. In fact, I'd put good money on Daitch Shopwell, but that's just a gut instinct.

Either way, the store is looking fantastic now. You enter to a grand aisle with floral at the front, produce lining the right side, bakery in an alcove to the left, seafood at the back, and deli/prepared foods in an island at the back right of the grand aisle. Meats continue along the back wall of the store, with frozen and dairy at the far end. As we'll see, although the store was renovated in the last three years or so, some remnants of the previous decor remain, including the flooring in this section.

Beautiful bakery on the left of the grand aisle.

Looking from the bakery department towards the front of the store, we can see the entrance, floral, customer service, and registers, from right to left. This store does not have a pharmacy, likely due to its small size.

Prepared foods takes the form of a to-order grill along with, if I remember correctly, a self-service hot food and salad bar. This is an island, and we're looking towards the grocery aisles here. To the right, in front of the island, are the natural foods aisles and HABA.

Sushi on the corner, with deli oddly facing the back wall. Seafood is in the back corner opposite this, with meat on the rest of the back wall.

I like the brick wall and window design. It gives the departments a store-within-a-store feeling. And you can also see in a picture like this that the remodel was fairly simple, and many of the walls remain from the previous decor package (like the side wall of the seafood area).

Meats line the back wall, with service butcher about halfway across the wall. Cheese and deli in the island facing.

Very nice cheese department next to the deli.

In front of the deli/cheese island, we have natural and organic foods along with gluten free and other specialty items. This department was previously branded LiveRite, but for whatever reason that has been removed for the latest remodel.

A beautifully upgraded health and beauty department in front of the deli island, visible straight ahead. As I mentioned, this store doesn't have a pharmacy.

Heading to the far end of the store on the back wall, where meat transitions into dairy, we see some remnants of the previous decor on the walls to the left. I'm pretty sure the aisle markers are also left over. It doesn't matter, because the two blend very nicely. Apparently we've never toured an SRS store previously on the blog, which is surprising to me. Anyway, we'll see a store shortly that features all of that decor.

Only 13 aisles total here in Thornwood. The second-to-last has one row of freezer cases, with the last aisle has one row (the back of these), with the perimeter wall being dairy. There are additional freezer cases on the front wall next to checkouts.

I'm not sure I've seen that blue tile floor previously in an SRS store, although it's possible it was from two decor packages ago. It's a little harsh for the very warm new decor...

...pictured here again as older decor with newer lettering placed on top of it. Still a successful look though!

More frozen foods on the front wall, with a small beer section to the right and checkouts on the other side of the right wall here. Typically the beer selection is larger and takes up most of this front area, but I also believe the standard SRS model has two full freezer aisles.

A look across the front end showing new custom (but oddly short) lane markers. Well, the Thornwood ShopRite is a beautiful store that, to me, was surprisingly small. It's nice to see how the latest remodel has been adapted to the smaller space and existing decor, though. A successful job!