Orange First Selectman Jim Zeoli and Harry Garafalo of Garafalo Markets announced Monday, Sept. 14, that a deal has been reached to bring a new grocery store to Orange. ShopRite will take over the former Stop and Shop location at 259 Bull Hill Lane.
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“The residents of Orange have been waiting for a new supermarket to come to the community and we’ve been working hard to bring an excellent operator like ShopRite and the Garafalo family to that location,” Zeoli said.
Outside of Trader Joe’s, Orange has been without a proper grocery store since the Stop and Shop closed in early 2014. Customers were encouraged to visit the new Stop and Shop location two miles away in West Haven.
That left only Trader Joe’s as an in-town option for groceries. People hoping for a larger supermarket would need to travel to West Haven or Milford.
Garafalo, the owner of the Milford ShopRite, will begin the process of opening a new ShopRite at the location now that an agreement for the lease with Richard Berlin of Shanri Holdings has been made. Berlin is based out of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
“We are happy to bring a state-of-the-art supermarket to Orange in 2016,” Garafalo said.
The store will create 200 new full and part-time jobs in Orange.
Work on 63,500 sq. ft. location will begin in January. Zeoli said the building inspectors have already been contacted in an effort to expedite the building process.
Garafalo has also begun construction on a new location in Milford on Cherry Street, next to Total Wine & More. As Garafalo Markets, his family owns and operates ShopRites in Milford, Stratford, Hamden, East Haven and West Haven.