By DON STINE
It may be a little darker in the Super Foodtown on Route 35 in Ocean Township but the store will also become a lot greener.
In the near future the redesigned store will handle primarily perishable foods and products, like fruits, vegetables, fish, prepared meats, salads, dairy, and frozen foods, along with dairy and beauty care, Food Circus President and CEO Lou Scaduto Jr. said earlier this week.
“The perishables will increase and the nonperishables will not. Sections of the store will be dormant until we figure out what to do with it. Our perishable lines will increase. We will be a more perishable-driven operation than a traditional supermarket,” he said.
Food Circus is making this move in order compete with a lot of other food outlets in the area.
Scaduto said the store’s footprint is too big and it faces a lot of competition, including online services. He said the shopping area will be reduced by about one-third, or about 20,000 square feet. The left side of the store will remain vacant while shopping activity will be on the right side of the store.
Scaduto cites the large number of food outlets on Route 35 from Monmouth Mall to the Asbury Park traffic circle.
“Let’s just say there is a lot of competition, to say the least. The number of stores is enormous and I am clearly not the big gun here. I am still on my own and we will see what happens,” he said.
Scaduto said the new look “takes a little bit of guts” and that he will see where it goes. He also said he does not want to disappoint the community and his shoppers.
“We always try to do the best for the communities we operate in,” he said.
Food Circus is a regional grocery store chain operates supermarkets in three counties (Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean) along the New Jersey Shore under the Super Foodtown banner. Family Circus stores offer standard grocery departments, and some feature catering services, hot food bars, flower shops, and sushi bars. Most stores have pharmacy departments and about half a dozen Super Foodtown locations offer online grocery shopping and a home delivery service.
