TOUR: ShopRite - Monticello, NY

ShopRite of Liberty

Owner: SRS

Opened: 2001 under current ownership, between 1976 and 1983 previously

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.

Location: 46 Thompson Sq, Monticello, NY

Photographed: February 3, 2021

With SRS-owned ShopRites closing in the Capital Region and Ellenville, I've been keeping an eye on the performance of other stores. This 54,000 square foot ShopRite in Monticello opened owned by Big V between 1976 and 1983, then during Big V's bankruptcy in 2000-2001 was transferred to SRS. This store has seen a distinct lack of updating over the years, and even its most recent renovation (probably around 2010) only the grand aisle was updated -- and that, only a little bit. I'm keeping an eye on this, for that reason. It's possible the store could be headed for closure, but it didn't seem that way to me. It's possible SRS is looking to replace the store with a new-build one nearby, or there's some other reason it hasn't been as extensively renovated as others around.

It's still plenty attractive, with a simple version of the decor package that predates the one we saw in Liberty.

The grand aisle is on the right side of the store, with produce on the left side of that and deli/bakery on the right side. Meat and seafood are on the back wall, with beer and dairy on the left side. Frozen foods are with them all the way on the left side of the store, and pharmacy is on the front wall between the grand aisle and the registers.

We can see that this is a very simple version of the decor package, as there's no actual lettering for most of the departments. There are just pictures and text on top of them. It doesn't look bad, but it does look cheap compared to a store like Liberty.

Similar to the layout of Price Chopper stores of the 1990s, the grand aisle is under a lower ceiling on the perimeter and the grocery aisles have a higher, exposed ceiling.

Looking back up towards the front...

Now we move into the grocery aisles, which as I mentioned resemble Price Chopper. Price Choppers had their pharmacies in an island at the front of the first few aisles, though, and this ShopRite has its pharmacy on the front wall.

That's actually a similarity I've pointed out before -- see the now-closed store in Montague.

Moving into the grocery aisles, we see that they're clean and organized, but we start to get a hint of the store's age...

Check out these aisle markers and that decor on the back wall! I think it's likely this decor dates back to the 1990s, but is probably not original to the store.

This store was originally branded a ShopRite Fresh Market (see an old exterior photo here). Here we can see that the decor has definitely not been updated for some time.

Notice that some of the decor elements have fallen off from some of the signage.

A lot of the fixtures, though, look like they're relatively new like the freezer and dairy cases here. It's possible the fixtures were updated after the decor. The decor, because of the old logos seen around the store, dates back to before 2001, when the logo changed -- but it's likely before that, since that would have been the time of Big V's bankruptcy. On the other hand, it's also possible SRS renovated the store immediately upon taking it over.

Older cases seen here in the last aisle.

I believe these last freezers are on the front wall at the front of the frozen foods aisles.

And the pre-2001 logo is still displayed prominently on the front end, too! As we can see here, the store has had very little investment recently. That said, it still looks good and has been maintained well over the last few years.

Before we leave Monticello, we have a few more quick posts over the next couple days. Head over to Grocery Archaeology tomorrow to check out a former supermarket downtown!