ShopRite of Montgomery
Owner: Richard Saker / Saker Supermarkets
Second day, second Saker ShopRite! We saw South Brunswick yesterday about four and a quarter miles east, and for that matter, we saw the Kingston ShopRite about three miles east that this store replaced today as well.
The 56,000 square foot Skillman (also known as Montgomery) location here was opened to replace Kingston in 1996, and competed with a Grand Union basically next door. If that store wasn't put out of business upon this ShopRite's opening, it would've closed with the chain in 2001.
We'll get a clear sense that this is an older Saker ShopRite, although it's a lot like South Brunswick. It has the same decor package, although there are some odd other elements such as the cheese decor below and the leftovers from the previous decor package.
Cheese is immediately inside the entrance to the right, with produce behind it. The bakery actually faces that area here, with deli/prepared foods on the back wall and then seafood and meat next to it to the left. Like South Brunswick, there's no pharmacy here.
Notice that the fixtures are older here, but the countryside pictures have been added to update the decor.
Looking across to bakery, and the grocery aisles are behind it. See those metal hanging awning things and towers? You can see more below, too, in the prepared foods department. These are left over from the previous decor package, which we can see a very simple version of here.
Prepared foods line the back of the produce area, and as we get into the main supermarket area, we move into deli and seafood service counters.
Again, notice that the older decor remains fully intact but has just been modified to include different signage.
And as a consequence of the slightly different layout, we have packaged bread here, across from the bakery...
The first few aisles are, of course, the nutrition center.
Notice that this lower-end version of the decor package includes only a hint of the wood flooring at the ends of each aisle, rather than having it all the way down the aisle.
Obviously this is still a substantial supermarket but we definitely get the sense that everything's scaled down a bit here compared to a larger store like South Brunswick.
This store is of approximately the same vintage of the old Middletown store, which was replaced last year.
Nicely stocked grocery aisles. It seems that this store might be a bit lower-volume than some of the other area ShopRites.
Looking back over to the produce department. Because the store is slightly strangely shaped, the store is actually wider in the back (where produce/prepared foods are) than in the front (where cheese/bakery are). It doesn't look like that was an expansion, but I can't be sure.
Dairy corner in the back looking good, and frozen takes up the last two aisles along with additional dairy in the last aisle -- just like South Brunswick.
Part of my suspicion that this is a lower-volume store is the fact that it was absolutely empty when I visited. Well, as empty as a ShopRite can be.
And in the front corner, we have a strange section where, again, I'd expect a pharmacy but there's nothing but nonfoods and empty space. Looks like this is just the front wall of the building, so I don't believe there ever was a pharmacy here.
And looking in the other direction towards the front-end facing cheese and produce...
Owner: Richard Saker / Saker Supermarkets
Opened: 1996
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.
Location: 1325 US-206, Skillman, NJ
Photographed: January 2021
Tomorrow, we head into downtown Princeton for their supermarket over on The Independent Edition!
The cheese department is a relatively new addition to the store. A Dunkin Donuts used to be right in the spot.
ReplyDeleteI used to stop in this store pretty frequently. True that it's not as busy as a lot of ShopRites out there but it always has a good crowd when I've been here.
Seems bigger than 56.000 square feet in person. Probably due to the high, exposed ceiling.
Oh -- that makes a lot of sense about the cheese department. Thanks!
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ReplyDeleteYou can't really tell by the picture but the produce department is in the back corner and is somewhat walled off from the rest of the store due to the tall cases that line the left side (which are just beyond the edge of the produce photo in the post). It's almost like an enclosed room, far from the entrance. Always would strike me as odd but this store was built before "fresh" became the big trend. You do have to walk through a lot of bakery displays when you enter the store though, so that's some freshness for you!
Saker Shoprites can never seem to decide whether they want produce or bakery first- I can point to many instances of each being the "debut" department.
DeleteThe "World Class" thing always amuses me, as if people in Australia and China are well-aware of grocery stores in central Jersey.
I used to work with someone who legit thought "World Class" meant something special and would go to a different ShopRite because the one nearest her wasn't "World Class". I wish I was making this up, but I am not.
DeleteThe first "World Class" Shoprite I was ever in was in Neptune. Many many years ago. I remember walking around the store joking to myself "if this is word class, I'd hate to see regular class".
ReplyDeleteYeah, this coworker would, and again I'm not making this up, go out of her way to shop at...West Long Branch.
DeleteI will say, in defense of Neptune, they have a wider product selection than many other Saker stores, and even ShopRite stores in general. They have the Kosher Experience as well as an alcove behind the deli/meat area with an expanded "ethnic" selection.
DeleteInteresting Mike. I don't mean to be too critical of the store. I was just expecting to be knocked off my A** when stepping into a World Class store and that is not what happened. I should take a new look at the place the next time I'm down in the area now that I'm alot more familiar with ShopRites than I was back then.
DeleteThat is as far as I'm willing to defend that store. It's quite an adventure shopping there, and not generally in a good way. Going at off times made it tolerable, but I still used to go to Jackson when both Freehold and Neptune were closer. Do not expect to be bowled over!
DeleteI know the one you're thinking of... it's more a World Class homeless shelter than grocery store.
ReplyDeleteInteresting points about all the Saker stuff. Somewhat in defense of Saker, I do think "world class" has a different meaning from "world famous," which I always think of like Jim's Diner with World Famous Pancakes. World Class, to me, suggests not that people might know it all over the world, but that it is right up there at the caliber of the finest gourmet food purveyors of the world. Whether that's true or not is up for debate...
ReplyDeleteI found West Long Branch confusing at best, but it's not a bad store. Solid place, but don't get lost. And don't spend too long looking at the decor, and you'll be fine. I really want to get to Neptune but I'm rarely in that area, so it'll have to wait.
And Acme Style, yes -- the produce is very oddly located here, thanks for mentioning that. It's a very strange place to put it.
Oh, one more thing... a Whole Foods may be coming to the area soon. There have plans in the works for many years now for a new shopping center/housing complex to be built just south of the ShopRite on, right next to the airport. It's been years of on-again/off-again plans but I see now that construction may actually begin soon...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/development/2021/12/02/montgomery-princeton-promenade-route-206-closer-construction/8823393002/
If the center is ever actually built, traffic in the area could get really bad. It is already terrible anywhere near rush hour.
They've already got the Whole Foods about 2 miles north on Route 1. It would surprise me if they put in another, unless they intend to replace it.
DeleteOh, very interesting. An Asian supermarket is also opening to the north in Montgomery, about 3.5-4 miles north on 206. https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/development/2021/12/03/asian-food-market-wants-open-route-206-montgomery/8838030002/
DeleteMike, I don't know of the Whole Foods you're talking about. I only see the Princeton Whole Foods, which is seven miles southwest on route 1, and certainly not close enough for a replacement. Where's the location you're thinking of?
Per my research, it appears that the Montgomery Shopping Center actually dates back to 1967 or 1968 (although historic aerial images show that it was expanded during the 1970s). The shopping center's original supermarket was Thriftway, which was still open on November 21, 1973. It closed less than three years later, since a Foodtown opened in the shopping center on September 22, 1976.
ReplyDeleteThe Foodtown (and presumably the Thriftway) was only 19,600 square feet in size and closed in the Fall of 1992. The ShopRite opened on July 13, 1996. To accommodate the much larger ShopRite, it appears that part of the shopping center expanded outward, onto what previously had been a portion of the parking lot. Additionally, some smaller shops had to be relocated to a newer strip of stores (that was built) which shares the same parking lot as the Shoprite (and the stores that are adjacent to it).
--A&P Fan
Thanks for the history! I did also recently find out that there was a Foodtown here. Do we know who owned it? Was it a Mayfair?
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