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The new store sits between Cherry Street and U.S. Route One and is an 80,884 square ft., two-level building with a second floor mezzanine that hosts a culinary center for cooking classes and demonstrations. There is also a seating area that overlooks the stores expanded produce, floral, bakery and food service sections.
“We are a little bit relieved; all the hard work is now done and we’re very proud of the building we’ve built. We think that everyone in the city will enjoy shopping here and we’re glad that we’re open,” said Harry Garafalo, president o Garafalo Markets..
ShopRite was previously located in an 57,844 square foot space on Cherry Street. According to Garafalo, the move to the new space formerly occupied by Showcase Cinemas was a necessity.
“The previous Milford store was kind of dated and was limited in our ability to expand and offer additional services that a customer would like to see. The new environment is a more contemporary design that is more open and spacious, which will be a more comfortable shopping experience for customers than the previous store,” said Garafalo.
Along with a new, fresh experience for shoppers the new Milford ShopRite location will bring 100 additional jobs to the city.
“It’s a huge economic development in our city, it’s going to bring in new jobs because it is a real showcase store,” said Milford Mayor Ben Blake. “I’ve talked to Harry Garafalo, and it is a tremendous addition, really to the gateway of our town because it’s right on Cherry Street when you get off of the highway exit and people are going to be funneling past this gorgeous new supermarket. As a big ShopRite customer myself, I’m really excited about it.”
The grand opening was a well attended event, with shoppers braving the rain and lining up outside the store before the 7:45 a.m. opening. After a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Garafalo and Mayor Blake, the doors opened and shoppers flocked into the store to explore and take advantage of the sales. Many of the customers had positive takes on the new location.
“I’ve been shopping at ShopRite for eight years now. The new store is beautiful; it was everything I thought it would be and maybe more. I can’t wait to go back and do some more investigation of what’s over there,” said local shopper Mistie Powell.
“I think it’s beautiful, I think they did a lovely job. The lighting is wonderful, the aisles are wide. It appears as though the items that you’re looking for are now finally put together where they should be instead of going from aisle to aisle and I was quite impressed with the new store,” said local shopper Geri Turecek.
Now that the Milford location has opened, the focus turns to the next ShopRite location which will be a 69,390 square foot space that will reside in the old Stop & Shop building on Bull Hill Lane in Orange. The location will look to hire approximately 225 new associates in various positions within the store.
Garafalo said that while the site has “a little bit smaller footprint than the Milford store,” the location “still offers us a lot of good options.”
Garafalo continued, “There is quite a bit of parking at that location. It will have a lot of the same features that the Milford store will have, possibly on a smaller scale so it fits within the footprint of the building. A lot of the decor and the fixtures we have done in the Milford store we will also be doing in the Orange store.”
The Orange location is set to open in the fall, as construction is currently underway.
While the Milford location sits among a diverse amount of grocery shops, the Orange location benefits from a lack of true competition in the area.
“If you’ve lived in Milford or Orange for a long time, I think everyone could remember when the Stop & Shop was originally built it was an extremely busy location and a very good location for Stop & Shop. We’ve always liked the site, we felt it is an under-served area of the West Haven/Orange/Milford areas and when it became available we thought it would fit well within the network of our current locations,” said Garafalo.
Both locations look to embrace a new way of viewing supermarkets, with customers looking for a diverse selection of stock along with healthier and more convenient options for dining in or out.