TOUR: ShopRite - Kearny, NJ

ShopRite of Kearny

Owner: John Tully

Opened: 1950s (in this location)

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 100 Passaic Ave, Kearny, NJ

Photographed: 2015 and July, September, and October 2016

Today's store tour is the 70,000 square foot ShopRite of Kearny. This store is well-known among supermarket fans for its previous appearance...

The original 1950s-era neon sign was displayed across the storefront until 2016, when a renovation removed the lettering and replaced it with the updated logo, as you see in the first picture.

As this formerly industrial neighborhood redevelops and gentrifies, the old facade was no longer appropriate, and the storefront was remodeled over the summer of 2016. Side note: this store is just across the street from the original Two Guys department store, which later became a Pathmark.

The renovation was farther along by the time of my September 2016 visit.

And by October 2016, a temporary sign had been installed. The permanent sign went in shortly thereafter and looks exactly the same.

The interior, to my knowledge, was not redone at the same time but as we'll see, it's still looking great. You enter and walk down a hallway to the right along the front wall, with pharmacy and prepared foods in the front-right corner of the store. Produce takes up the rest of the first aisle, with a meat alcove on the back wall. Seafood, deli, and bakery line the rest of the back wall. Frozen foods are halfway across the store, with dairy in the last aisle. From the last aisle, there's a walkway to the liquor store.

This ShopRite is owned by the Tully family, who do not own any other stores. That's fairly unusual, as many ShopRite owners are either chains, like Village Super Market, or are single-store operations who have taken on a new store over the years.

Pharmacy on the front wall. The neon is left over from a previous decor package.

Prepared foods in the front corner. How long do you think that "customer rest rooms" sign has been hanging there?

Customer service and photo to the left of the entrance.

I've always thought this corner was very awkward, and it clearly used to be something else (or was a later installation). Behind the rotisserie chicken case is just a big empty space, which I've thought should be a seating area -- which would make sense next to prepared foods.

And the green wall signals the transition to produce...

I was pleasantly surprised on my first visit to find this store is very nice inside.

The decor is especially nice. I don't know when it was installed, nor have I seen pictures of the interior before this renovation.

I don't seem to have a picture of the meat corner, which extends farther back than the other departments on the back wall. Seafood is next on the back wall, with deli-bakery last.

The flooring does not appear to have been redone in the last renovation, and it could use some freshening up. Otherwise the store looks great.

Nice tile backsplash behind the departments. Bakery is next...

The lemon donuts from the bakery are worth the trip out to Kearny (usually 20-25 minutes) for me. I haven't been here for a few years though, I wonder whether they still make the lemon donuts.

Frozen foods in the middle of the store, with a department sign that doesn't quite match the rest of the decor. You can also see the patching done on the floor.

Clean and organized grocery aisles.

Bottled water is on the back wall beyond bakery, with dairy extending down the last aisle.

You can see how crowded the store gets here!

Entrance to the liquor store in the front corner. NJ law used to require that supermarkets could not sell liquor, but they could be connected so long as they were separate storefronts.

Chips and snacks in an alcove on the front wall.

And looking across the front-end. I particularly like the checkout lane markers.

Customer service and photo between the exit and the entrance. This is the only ShopRite I've been to with a photo department.

That wraps up our tour of this ShopRite! Up next we're heading back to Jersey City, starting with the Hackensack River Waterfront. Check out tomorrow's tour right here on The Market Report!