TOUR: ShopRite - Middletown, NJ

ShopRite of Middletown, NJ

Owner: Richard Saker / Saker Supermarkets

Opened: 1990s-2021

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 1361 NJ-35, Middletown, NJ

Photographed: January 2021

It's time for our next Saker ShopRite here in Middletown! The approximately 75,000 square foot store was built in the 1990s as a replacement for an older, approximately 47,000 square foot store at the other end of the mall. Less than 30 years later, it's already been replaced by a brand-new, even larger store across the highway. It's in a former Sears, spanning over 120,000 square feet. We'll get a peek at the new facility at the end of this post. Like in many cases, though, I'm fairly certain the move is less about the size or age of the existing facility and more about the location. This is an extremely difficult mall to get into and out of, and you have to drive through the entire rest of the mall to get back to the ShopRite, which is right next to the highway but not actually accessible from the highway (you have to drive the entire length of the mall on NJ-35, turn onto the side street, turn into the mall, then drive the entire length of the mall back to the supermarket).

The gigantic glass foyer is present here at this ShopRite, which we saw in Aberdeen (and a newer variation in Hazlet). Notice that this one has the pre-2002 logo etched into the glass instead of the newer one. I could be wrong, but I believe this is the first Saker with any variation on the glass tower to close -- in other words, probably the Saker store with the shortest life in recent history. Though clearly, short life does not indicate failure here; it indicates an extremely high level of success to the point of outgrowing the existing location. Let's head in.

We enter to a gorgeous floral department in the front right corner of the store, then continue into produce along the right-side wall of the store. Bakery lines what amounts to the second aisle, with beer in the third aisle and then the rest of the grocery aisles. Cheese, prepared foods, and deli line the right half of the back wall, with meat and seafood on the left half. The nutrition center and pharmacy here are at the far left side of the store, with dairy and frozen at the end of the store.

It blows my mind that this store is already considered outdated and in need of replacement (though it's equally likely Saker is just grabbing the vacant Sears property across the highway before Wegmans can). I want to make two observations here. First, unless Saker has a big surprise up its sleeves, the new store will have exactly the same decor package as this one. That's crazy to me. Second, we can notice in newer stores like Hazlet -- and others we'll be seeing shortly -- that the layout has been slightly changed in the more recent stores, with deli-bakery-prepared foods here in the first aisle and produce in the second, instead of the other way around.

Here we see cheese at the back of the produce department. Now jumping over to the second aisle for bakery and the Chinese food bar...

Packaged bread lines the facing aisle.

Looking towards the back wall of the store, towards World Class Kitchens.

We can see that, although it's been updated, the store is definitely older with signs like this Cheeses of the World marker. I'll also point out here that I wasn't planning to go to this store (just drive by), then when I realized the store was soon to be replaced I decided to grab an exterior shot, but the smell of cooking -- I believe from the Wok Empire here -- had other plans and my stomach led me into the store.

Sushi is at the back of the second aisle. Deli and other prepared foods line the back wall in this area...

Moving into the next aisle, we find the beer department. In New Jersey, any company can only own two liquor stores, and this is the only Saker with an in-store liquor department. (I believe Pennington had a liquor store until recently, although I'm not sure where the other liquor store is today.)

The signage for the beer department is up here in the front of the department.

And now moving to the back of the aisle. Seafood and butcher are up next along the back wall of the store.

I think it's pretty safe to say that the grocery aisles of the new ShopRite across the street are going to look basically the same as these, which is all the more reason I think the move is prompted by poor location and fear of Wegmans more than an actual problem with this store.

The only main difference I notice between this store and Hazlet is the lighting. Hazlet is brighter and the ceiling is white instead of this dark gray. Everything else looks pretty much the same.

The nutrition center here is only two aisles, I believe, and is located down towards the dairy/frozen end of the store. Newer Saker locations put it closer to produce.

I have to wonder whether anything will be moved over from this store to the new location since all the fixtures look quite new. Or it's also possible that they'll be relocated into a much older Saker.

Now back to the rear aisle of the store...

Milk/juice alcove in the back. Frozen takes up aisle 21, the second-to-last aisle, and one side of the last aisle.

Looking towards the front wall in the last aisle.

There's a little frozen section on the front wall here, with pharmacy up next along the front of the store...

And looking across the expansive front-end...

Do you think that tiny sliver of the aisle 12 aisle marker will satisfy the Flickr crowd? Anyway, before we move on, let's check out the new store in progress across route 35.

We can see the facade starting to take shape here. I didn't get a good look at this building because I couldn't get too close, so I wasn't entirely sure whether Saker took the entire Sears building or demolished it and started over. Turns out they took all 120,000+ square feet of the space, making this by far the largest ShopRite out there (beating Brodheadsville's 95,000 square feet). However, the supermarket only takes up just over 91,000 square feet, with the rest going to a Saker-owned liquor store. Still impressive.

We can see the beginning of the Hazlet-style facade on the side here. Funny how (unintentionally) the change in color on the facade lines up perfectly with that light pole... Anyway, the new store is located at 1500 NJ-35. Hopefully I'll get back once this new store opens! But if not, don't worry, we'll be seeing quite a few more Saker ShopRites. Tomorrow, though, we'll be checking out an independent supermarket here in Middletown just to the east on The Independent Edition!