There is a need for a store that carries organic and natural products

I live behind the Hazlet Pathmark and there are grocery stores on just about every corner not to mention there is already a Shop Rite down the highway in Middletown by Sears.Foodtown got knocked out by the competition, I found their prices way higher than the Pathmark or Stop and Shop, not sure Shop Rite will survive.

I hope they open! I used to shop at Foodtown when it first opened but then they stopped carrying things I liked. When I emailed them about these items they sent back a generic reply that said something like; we can't cater to everyone. Even though the items requested were evidently selling because they seemed to run out quickly.
So i went back to Shop Rite in Middletown. It will be nice to have a good Shop Rite closer. I hope its a superstore.

Not another Shop-rite please. What this area needs is Wegmans. I know this retailer needs a huge retail space, but maybe they could take over the old Foodtown and the Children's Wear empty businesses. I drive 25 minutes to the nearest Wegmans in Manalapan or Ocean and they are just packed to the gills with customers.

Yes, I have shopped at Shop Rite in Middletown for 14 years, this location is right around the corner from my house...great news!!!

Yes!!!!!!! Shop Rite will be successful where the former Super Foodtown was located. Shop Rite has great prices and excellent Customer Service. It also has a great selection of products. Also, Shop Rite is very generous and giving as an organization. Can't wait to shop there.

Who can predict success or lack thereof? But I like the location (because it let's me navigate a "great circle route" (of all right turns) on the west side of Rt. 35 to and from Telegraph Rd. and was disappointed when Foodtown couldn't make it at that location.

While I agree that Wegmans would be better, we don't get to make that choice - and if it can't be Wegmans, I'm glad its Shop Rite (whose Middletown store has a saturated parking lot).

Aside from being a well-run chain, one other plus for a new Shop Rite on Rt. 35 is that it's reported that they'll close their store on Rt. 36 (betw. Poole and Union Aves) and the new location figures to pick up a decent percentage of those former Shop Rite customers.

It only makes sense they will be successful. They are only moving one mile away so they should lose very little of their customer base if any, plus they should pick up more shoppers being on Hwy 35 with better parking and a more modern facility.

No real risk in my opinion.

One thing about Shop Rite , whoever designer their carriages must not of been a shopper! They need a flat bottom to put cases of water, paper towels, etc especially during their can can sale!

I agree with those who want a Wegmans
I think a Shoprite will do better than FoodTown did because that FoodTown was managed terribly and had some of the rudest staff I have even encountered. Just off the top of my head I can think of over a dozen people who went there once and swore to never go back.

Although I've occasionally shopped at Wegmans, I find them to be a bit more expensive than Shop Rite or Path Mark but that's just MHO.

As for doing well at that location, since it will be a much bigger store I think it will draw from the current Middletown store briging down their revenue so perhaps it will do better. That will leave Route 36 with only Foodtown in Port Monmouth as the only large food store for miles. You'll have the A&P in Cliffwood/Keyport and the A&P after the Highlands - pretty scarce pickin's unless you shop the smaller "markets".

Pathmark and Kmart are not doing good in the other plaza. This will probably be the final blow to them.

Shop Rite has stayed in business due to their prices and their customer loyality, certainly not because of their location or the building they occupy. That store is small, dirty looking and old. Moving to 35 will let them keep their old customers, and get new ones. Pathmark has gotten very complacent being the only "Food Store" on 35 in Hazlet, They will either have to shape up, or Shop Rite will beat them under. If Pathmark does go under, I think the entire strip mall that they are in will become a ghost town, with the exception of Fridays! Only time will tell!

Will be a great addition to the area. Shoprite has the best prices, and since Pathmark was bought by A&P there are not longer any sales there. Yes a Wegmans would be great but the area would not support that type of high end store with there prices. Foodtown failed because of their prices. Can't wait till the store opens!!!

Amazingly enough they shouldn't be complacement because the company hires mystery shoppers to see how the store is doing - I was one of them.

I guess high prices is a matter of opinion. I would pay for a whole filet mignon at $5.99/pound before I'd be USDA Prime Steaks. And - I'm speaking of US meats - not from Australia or wherever else they get meat from. Best Market frequently has USDA Prime Rib Roasts on sale for $4.99/pound - try and get that in Wegman's. I doubt Wegman's will ever come to this area because of all the low income towns surrounding Holmdel, Middletown and parts of Hazlet.

I don't know if it will be a death knell for KMart though - they came through bankruptcy and purchased Sears (most folks think it is the other way around but it was KMart that purchased Sears :-) They seem to be doing OK. I hate to see any store fail in today's economy - it just means more people out of work. I was truly saddened when Foodtown closed but only for the folks who lost jobs. Their prices were always higher than other supermarkets.

For one, Foodtown was expensive and whomever said the staff was rude, was not kidding. If Shoprite is simply moving the Rt 36 store to this new location, good! The store on 36 is tiny and dilapidated and is need of a huge makeover (and thorough cleaning). My only hope is they hire new dairy stock workers as a fair amount of times the food in the dairy aisle is either close to or already passed the expiration date.

The only thing I'm wondering is how all of the people who walk to work or walk to shop at Rt 36 are gonna fair with this move? I know there are a lot of those people who do both.

I'm sure Shoprite will do well with this location, sure it's not a Wegmans which would have been great here, but I can't see why they'd have trouble staying in business.

The Foodtown failed because they cheaped out on the whole construction of the store. You walked into that store and thought it might had well been Pathmark over by KMart. Looked like it had been built 25 years ago. If you bring something new and updated to that plaza, and the prices are fair, it will do just fine.

Foodtown was horrible! It was small and prices were high. I go to the shoprite in Middletown because the Hazlet one is gross . Can't wait for the new store to be up the block. Pathmark needs a makeover and stop n shop is expensive.

The employees in the Middletown location are awful. I haven't seen a miserable crew like that in any store. I'll miss being able to walk to the location on 36, but will definitely still go when they move.

I agree that the Customer Service staff at the Customer Service department of the former Foodtown on route 35 in Hazlet were very unprofessional, starting with the store manager. However, when you go to the Port Monmouth Foodtown, totally different and better. This is probably why they closed because consumers have a choice where to spend their money and shop.

Each of us have our own unique ways of doing our food shoppin.

I liked Foodtown on Rt 35 because it was convenient - checkout time was seldom more than a minute or two and I could literally drive there, park there, shop there and be home inside of a half-hour.

I shop at Stop and Shop because of their biscuits - the only food store who sells them. I buy a batch, freeze them and revisit them when I run out.

The only places along Rt. 35 whose fish and seafood I totally trust are Shop Rite and Whole Foods. I hate the Pathmark and Shop Rite policies of automating all but one or two of their checkout lanes (I especially dislike the snotty voice - a distant relative of SIRI? - who prods me to "put your item on the SCALE!")

Access-to and parking at the Shop Rite Middletown store is an ordeal that has discouraged me from shopping there regularly, but - from the standpoint of good overall service, selection and quality - I think it's the best in the area. My hope is that the new Shop Rite store will retain the positive qualities of the Middletown store and combine it with the convenience of Rt 35 Foodtown.

And ponder this, folks - if the two Shop Rite's cannibalize one another and the demographics of Hazlet aren't high enough to support a Wegmanns, there's always the future possibility (however scarce) that Shop Rite could convert its Middletown store to a Wegmanns.

Competition is good, it keeps prices low. Even I would prefer a Wegman store since this kind of grocery store is missing here.

Apparently no one is noting that there will NO longer be a grocery store on Rte 36? Not to mention that traveling to Rte 35 especially during the holiday season is nothing but CHAOS!!! Rte 36 in Hazlet has nothing but empty buildings!

They said this shoprite will be huge, they did buy the children's wear spot and they already started construction, I can't wait to shop there, I will be walking distance, plenty of parking, big , comfortable and adding a fresh newer shopping experience with shoprite quality , it is going to be great! Bye bye pathmark !

I will no longer shop at Stop&Shop because of very unprofessional and rude customer service starting with the store manager. Not to mentioned prepackaged seafood products. I prefer to purchase my seafood fresh so I can see it for myself its quality. Also not to mentioned its very high pricing structures. If Shop Rite does well and I do hope it does...it will be byebye Stop&Shop, Maybe Stop&shop will move back to its orginal Rte 36 location at the Bradley Center.

Would love the new Shoprite in place of the Foodtown. It is walking distance for us seniors. Hey, the more food shopping stores, the merrier - 'specially after there's been bad weather. Always a chance to bring home bread, milk, and eggs.

Darlene Bost, I can tell u personally that kmart DID NOT PURCHASE Sears. That's why Kmart is now part of Sears holding company. I worked there as an assistant manager for many years. That company is doomed to fail and if Sears didn't buy them out they would have closed YEARS AGO. I understand this is not about kmart tho so I will now leave a comment about what I think about the new shoprite on 35. I think its a good idea. The location should profit very well there. The location on 36 is outdated and gross. Definately time for a change.

I miss Middletown Pathmark....

Kmart was originally owned by the "Kmart Holdings Company". Sears was owned by "Sears, Roebuck, and Company", which was in turn owned by Hoffman Estates. In 2005, the Kmart Holdings Company bought the Sears, Roebuck, and Company (and with it, the Sears stores).

So in that respect, you could say that "Kmart" now owns "Sears". But the story doesn't quite end there. After the merger, the Kmart Holdings Company, which now owned both Kmart and Sears, changed its name to the "Sears Holding Company". So now the Sears Holdings Company owns both Kmart and Sears.

The only true statement you can make along these lines is that "The company that always owned Kmart now also owns Sears", but it's really not 100% correct to say that either "Sears owns Kmart" or "Kmart owns Sears". Sears is owned by Sears Holding Corporation. Sears Holding Corporation was formed when Kmart purchased Sears in 2004. This was the ultimate "blue-light" special.The corporation still operates both Kmart and Sears retail stores.

I think SR will draw customers from the close by Pathmark and the Shop Rite in Middletown. I know it will be closer for me. The folks who currently shop at the one on Rt. 36 will most likely be drawn to the new Shop Rite IMHO. I hope all of them, KMart, Pathmark, and Shop Rite all do well. I hate to see a company fail. It certainly hurts the employees and also the community. Not a good thing. I was terribly disappointed when the new company decided to close Fashion Bug.

I loved shop-rite when I lived Matawan. When I moved to Middletown I tried to shop at the Middletown store, but who the heck designed that parking lot? Its like a demolition derby in there and you can't make a right turn here or a left turn there? Its horrible so i never went back. I shopped at the Foodtown because the parking was easy and the store was never crowded(guess that's why it closed) Id go back if it was a Shop-rite as long as they don't screw up the parking.

With the shoprite moving to 35 leaves yet another vacant store spot on 36. I honestly would not be surprised if stop and shop relocated to the old foodtown/bradless plaza on 36 (stop and shop owns the property) from the keyport site on 35/36. The new hazlet store will take business away from stop and shop keyport and aberdeen. The shoprite in middletown will take a hit, which is a good thing. The business in that store is crazy and having a new hazlet store will tone it down but its the same company so no money is lost from competitors. The pathmark next door will take a huge hit, probably enough to close that location. The aps in matawan and holmdel will also be affected as well.