Business

ShopRite grocery store coming to Riverhead in fall

The vacant Waldbaum’s building in the Riverhead Center on Route 58 will have a new supermarket moving into the old space soon.

ShopRite is expected to open in the empty storefront in the fall of 2018, according to Karen O’Shea, a spokesperson for Wakefern Food Group, which owns the ShopRite brand. 

“The existing space will be completely renovated to make way for a new, state-of-the-art, full service ShopRite supermarket that, when completed, will include a wide selection of organic and natural foods and products,” she said.

These new services will include a cafe, pizzeria and international foods aisle, she said.

The new store will have more than 200 employees and will offer the online “ShopRite From Home” service so customers can order groceries online and either pick them up at the store or have them delivered to their home, Ms. O’Shea said.

The company chose Riverhead because the Thompson family, who runs the ShopRite stores in Deer Park and Uniondale and will run the Riverhead store, wanted to expand to the East End. The Thompsons, Ken and Ken Jr., live in Eastport, Ms. O’Shea said.

Currently, the easternmost ShopRite store is in Patchogue, and there are several stores in western Suffolk County.

ShopRite belongs to the Wakefern Cooperative and is the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, comprised of 50 members who independently own and operate 344 supermarkets, according to Wakefern.

In addition to ShopRite, these stores also include the Fresh Grocer, Price Rite and Dearborn Market banners.

The Waldbaum’s store that had been at the Riverhead site closed after its parent company, A&P — also known as the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company — filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores by the end of 2015.

Route 58 already has several supermarkets, including Stop & Shop, Gala Fresh Farm, Aldi and Best Yet, while several large retailers such as Walmart, Target, Costco and BJ’s also sell some supermarket products.

Photo caption: ShopRite will open in the vacant Waldbuam’s building in Riverhead in fall 2018. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

[email protected]