TOUR: ShopRite - Carteret, NJ

ShopRite of Carteret

Owner: Leonard Sitar

Opened: 1970s (in this location)

Previous Tenants: Finast

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 801 Roosevelt Ave, Carteret, NJ

Photographed: December 2019

We're back at the ShopRite of Carteret, where we saw a snapshot in August 2019, to see the exterior post-renovation and the interior for the first time! A 2018-19 renovation replaced the unique if not particularly attractive blue metal siding with a much nicer and much blander facade. Inside, the decor of the grand aisle was redone while the rest of the store was not, although as we'll see, it's in very good condition. The 50,000 square foot store remains one of my favorites in the area because it's spacious and well maintained, but still has a friendly small-town grocery store feeling. It's always far less crowded, also, than nearby Linden or Elizabeth. It was a replacement for an older, 1954-opened streetfront store on Washington Avenue just to the south.

A reader submitted this photo of the original Sitar Shop-Rite, which is located across from the Carteret High School (I believe 160 Washington Ave), or about 3/4 of a mile south of the present-day ShopRite. I only seem to visit this store at night, usually after eating dinner at the fantastic Bus Stop Diner in the same strip mall. The food is great and the service is always excellent. Now let's head into the store!

You enter to the grand aisle, which is at the far left of the store in an expansion. Produce takes up the front 2/3 or so of the aisle, with the back part being cafe/prepared foods, deli, and seafood on the back wall, and bakery in an island on the right.

Looking to the right side of the produce aisle (the pharmacy and grocery aisles are on the other side of this wall). This decor is new, but I'm pretty sure the flooring is from the previous decor package. The produce department is looking great.

Santa greets us to the cafe, located in the back corner of the grand aisle. Prepared foods continue along the back wall. Of course, all of these departments were closed up for the night at the time of my visit.

Notice the fire-grilled chicken from Brown's ShopRite in Philadelphia has made its way into New Jersey! The prepared foods area also has a coffee shop, sushi, hot food, to-order grill, and a custom sandwich counter. Pretty good for a very small corner of the store!

Deli is next along the back wall. The decor, fixtures, and flooring in this section of the store is all-new. The deli is along the back wall of the store, with seafood just to the right...

And bakery is in an island facing seafood.

Health and beauty lines the first aisle, with pharmacy and customer service in the front between this aisle and produce.

Pharmacy, seen here closed for the night, is to the right, with customer service around the corner where you can see the clock to the right of the Baby Care sign. On the other side of that wall is produce.

An overview of the whole front customer service/pharmacy area.

Heading back over to the back wall, we see the older decor (which is still very attractive) on the back wall. The grand aisle extends farther back than the rest of the supermarket.

Still very nice decor, if a little bland. The new decor is more exciting and has more local personality, with the departments named for local landmarks and streets.

Deluxe kitchen shop, like we've been seeing in many new ShopRites, in a grocery aisle.

Double-wide beverage aisle.

Dairy begins on the back wall and extends down the outside wall in the last aisle. The frozen foods are in an alcove in the front corner.

Remnants of what might be an older decor package in the dairy aisle! We also see blue-themed dairy cases, which match the old storefront and the blue shopping carts this store used to use.

Looking towards the front wall of the store in the last aisle. It's possible this aisle was an expansion too, given the ceiling height. Otherwise, this is probably where the offices and other back rooms are on the second floor.

Frozen foods in an alcove on the front wall.

Looking across the front end back towards the entrance...

Nice store-specific sign here! I'm sure a lot of people are still familiar with the Sitar family name here in Carteret, and this is the only ShopRite that the Sitars own. That wraps up our coverage of this store, and we're heading west to Colonia (at the northern part of Woodbridge Township) for tomorrow's store tour here on The Market Report!