A year after the last major grocery store in Secaucus closed, the town will get a new local food store option when Walmart debuts its expanded “Supercenter” this year.
Renovations that began 10 months ago at the Walmart on Park Place are entering the home stretch, and a spokesman said last week the company is planning a “grand reopening” in the spring. The retail portion of the store has remained open during the renovation.
“This store will be a one-stop shopping experience for our customers,” said Walmart spokesman Steven Restivo. “It was a decision the company made because full grocery offerings are common at our stores everywhere else in the country. Our first store in New Jersey was only built in 1991. So, as customers become more accustomed to our brand assortment, we’re making the natural progression into grocery.”
“This store will be a one-stop shopping experience for our customers.” – Steven Restivo
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This will mark the second Walmart grocery store to open in Hudson County. The company will open its first grocery this week in North Bergen.
Store to fill void
Secaucus lost its last major supermarket in May 2009 when the Stop & Shop at Mill Creek Mall closed, forcing local residents to do their food shopping in other towns. In 2004, Secaucus lost an Acme supermarket in the center of town.
The Walmart grocery may help fill the void. The lack of a supermarket in town has been a major complaint of residents, particularly senior citizens and and others with limited mobility who can’t travel to other towns.
But the Walmart may also make it more difficult to attract other food chains to Secaucus.
Last year, several town officials, including former Mayor Dennis Elwell, cited the planned opening of the Walmart supermarket as one of the reasons Stop & Shop chose to shut down. Throughout the first half of 2009, Elwell and Town Administrator David Drumeler met with other food store chains – including D’Agostino and Trader Joe’s – to see if they had any interest in coming to Secaucus. They didn’t, partly because they didn’t want to compete with Walmart, Elwell said at the time.
Since Stop & Shop’s departure, residents have complained about the lack of a major grocery store and have even mentioned reservations about Walmart.
“We don’t want a Super Walmart,” resident Carole Acropolis said after the store at Mill Creek closed. “We want a real grocery store. Walmart prepackages their meat at the warehouse. And then that meat is sent out to the stores. We want a store that has a butcher on-site because that meat is fresher.”
However, Restivo countered, “Our new Secaucus store is going to have every option that customers associate with their grocery shopping experience, in addition to the more traditional merchandise offerings that customers are accustomed to from Walmart. There will be a bakery, a delicatessen. There will be meat, dairy, fresh produce, a frozen section – everything you would normally associate with a grocery store.”
Although there will be a meat section in the store, he acknowledged there will be no butcher on site.
‘I happen to like it’
Not every customer is concerned about the quality of the store’s merchandise.
“Some people don’t like Walmart,” said Secaucus resident Maribel Anota, who currently does her shopping at ShopRite stores in Lyndhurst or North Bergen. “I happen to like it, as a corporation and as a business in our community. We need a supermarket in one form or another. So, I welcome it.”
Fellow resident Josephine Rubio agreed. “I like it because it’s going to give us a supermarket where we have fresh meat and fresh vegetables,” she said. “And their toiletries are cheaper than CVS. But I have to go there early because by 10 or 11 [a.m.] it’s already packed with people.”
Rubio said she currently goes to an out-of-town ShopRite.
Town will still seek other stores
Mayor Michael Gonnelli, who will be attending the grand opening of the North Bergen Walmart on Jan. 20, said he still hopes to convince another store to open up in town.
“We’re still going to keep looking and we’re going to try to draw someone else in,” he said.
He added that he would like to see a small grocery store chain like Trader Joe’s open a Secaucus location.
In the meantime, he said the North Bergen site should help alleviate the Walmart crowds in Secaucus.
“I haven’t seen a Walmart supermarket yet. So, I’m going to see the one in North Bergen. I’m sure it’s going to give me a good idea of what we’re going to get.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.