First Price Rite opens in New Jersey
The stores typically are about half the size of a ShopRite, and don't have on-site butchers, bakeries or prepared foods like the full-service stores. They give Wakefern a way to open smaller stores in urban and lower-income markets. It also helps keep other discount-grocery competitors out of those spaces.
Wakefern, the corporate parent that oversees the cooperative of independent operators that own ShopRite stores, introduced the Price Rite brand 19 years ago, in Massachusetts, and thus far, all the stores have been owned and operated by the parent corporation. Wakefern decided recently to allow its member operators to open Price Rites, and Inserra Supermarkets in Mahwah, which owns 22 ShopRites, was given the chance to open the first member-owned Price Rite, at 59 Outwater Lane in Garfield.
Inserra said Price Rite stores shouldn't be compared to Aldi, the German limited-assortment chain that recently opened stores in Lodi and Clifton. Aldi stores are typically 20,000 square feet or less, and are stocked with more house brands than national brands. They also have a more limited produce and meat selection. The Price Rite in Garfield, in addition to a produce selection that is as large as some full-size supermarkets, carries dozens of national brands.
"We're very different than Aldi," Inserra said. "We want the customer to experience a store that is aesthetically beautiful" with the products they are looking for. The store will have a large selection of ethnic foods, including half an aisle of Polish specialties, that reflect the immigrant population in the neighborhood.
Being able to open Price Rites gives Inserra Supermarkets the ability "to diversify our formats to allow us to have multiple ways to get into the market," Inserra said.
Source: northjersey.com
