A Visit To The New ShopRite

Curious about the hoopla and tempted by a coupon for a dozen free eggs, I braved rush hour traffic on Central Avenue to check out the new ShopRite in the Midway Shopping Center in Scarsdale. I arrived at dusk and was greeted with pandemonium in the parking lot with parking attendants swirling flashlights in an attempt to direct the traffic.

Perhaps it was just the perils of opening week, but the traffic situation wasn’t much better inside the store where meandering shoppers jammed the aisles with their carts, making it difficult to navigate this massive space. In fact, the store is so large that customers are handed a store map at the entrance to help them find what they’re seeking in Shop Rite’s 19 aisles.

The store rivals Stew Leonard’s in size and has many intriguing features. Similar to the new Fairway, ShopRite includes a café at the entrance where you can enjoy a deli sandwich or store-made sushi while watching TV on a large flat screen monitor. Other special features include a fresh bakery counter, a florist, a fresh seafood counter, impressive gourmet cheeses and butchers who promise to cut custom meat orders. They also offer custom catering where you can order platters of appetizers, entrees, sushi, deli, fruit, cheese, desserts and more. There’s so much to see that you could easily get dazzled and forget why you came in the first place.

The produce department is large and well stocked. While turning the corner from the veggies I ran into the store’s nutritionist, Jessica Lee Atland who is available for free individual and family nutritional counseling. Atland is a registered dietician and was handing out a monthly schedule of nutritional classes, cooking demos and events, including a presentation to the Woodlands Middle School, a workshop on Body Mass Index (BMI), a session on vitamins and a fruit and vegetable scavenger hunt for the kids.

In the aisles beyond there were groceries, paper goods, supplies, dairy, cosmetics and you-name-it, allin plentiful supply. Scores of store employees were also blocking traffic, continually stocking the shelves as throngs of customers emptied them. There were towers of specials and discounted items, and sign-up tables where you could instantaneously enroll for the ShopRite Price Plus club. For those looking for organic products, I noted that organic milk was stocked at a very competitive price.

If you don’t care to brave the store at all, you can shop online at home at www.shoprite.com and have your groceries delivered for $6.95. If you spend, $10 or more, the shopping is free, and for orders under $100, a $10 fee applies.

The new ShopRite will undoubtedly have an impact on business in our area. A&P stores filed for bankruptcy in White Plains in December and though the A&P on Central Avenue remains open, it will clearly face a challenge from ShopRite which is a mere two minute drive south. Stew Leonard’s, Morton Williams and Pathmark may also feel the impact of this new giant entry to the local market. ShopRite also opened another 59,000 square foot market in City Center in White Plains this month, and their two new locations bring more choices for area shoppers and more jobs to Westchester.

Visit the two new stores and let us know what you think in the comments sections below.

ShopRite
955 Central Avenue
Scarsdale, New York 10583
(914) 874 2973
www.shoprite.com

Open seven days a week: 6 am to 2 am