PriceRite
Encyclopedia
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s throughout the U.S. State
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. There are currently 49 PriceRite stores and the chain is growing fast, opening 6 new stores in 2009 and another 4 in 2010. Wakefern Food Corporation
Wakefern Food Corporation
The Wakefern Food Corp., founded in 1946 and based in Keasbey, New Jersey , is the largest co-operative group of supermarkets in the United States...
(the cooperative that supplies ShopRite
ShopRite (United States)
ShopRite Supermarkets is a retailers' cooperative chain of supermarkets in the northeastern United States, with stores in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
Supermarkets) created PriceRite, and owns, operates or franchises all stores.
Like other limited-assortment chains such as Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
or Save-A-Lot
Save-A-Lot
Save-a-Lot is a discount supermarket chain headquartered in Earth City, Missouri, near St. Louis, United States. The subsidiary of Supervalu comprises approximately 1,250 stores in the United States with over $4 billion in annual sales....
, PriceRite offers drastically fewer SKUs (stock-keeping units) than its sister ShopRite
ShopRite (United States)
ShopRite Supermarkets is a retailers' cooperative chain of supermarkets in the northeastern United States, with stores in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
stores. The stores operate on the same principles as its competition; however, they are a bit bigger (averaging 35000 sq ft (3,251.6 m²)) and concentrate on offering a larger “fresh food” selection.
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
is German-owned, Bottom Dollar Food
Bottom Dollar Food
Bottom Dollar Food is a soft-discount grocery chain. It is a subsidiary of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of international food retailer Delhaize Group.Bottom Dollar Food sells an assortment of both private brands and national brands at low prices...
is Belgian-owned, and Food Basics
Food Basics
Food Basics is a discount Canadian supermarket chain owned by Metro Inc. and with all stores within Ontario. It was created by A&P Canada to compete with the successful No Frills warehouse-style supermarket operated by Loblaw Companies...
is operated by A&P, which is majority-owned by Germany's Tengelmann Group
Tengelmann Group
Tengelmann Warenhandelsgesellschaft KG, doing business as the Tengelmann Group, is a holding company based in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.-Structure:The corporation has the following subsidiaries:*A&P Tea Company ; 362 stores...
).
Due to the generic nature of the name "PriceRite", and the unfamiliarity with the brand outside New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, Wakefern has also begun distributing PriceRite-branded merchandise such as health & beauty, paper products and some foodstuffs to other retail outlets, such as dollar-stores, mom-and-pop pharmacies and corner markets, and other supermarkets such as Gristedes Operating Corp., which owns Gristedes Supermarkets in New York City. (Gristedes stores are supplied by Wakefern Food Corporation) Due to Gristedes' partnership with amazon.com, selected PriceRite-branded products are also available for sale on amazon.com.
Because of its cooperative
Retailers' cooperative
A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. It is common for locally owned grocery stores,...
structure, Wakefern has been very careful not to cannibalize sales of its member-owned ShopRite
ShopRite (United States)
ShopRite Supermarkets is a retailers' cooperative chain of supermarkets in the northeastern United States, with stores in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
stores by opening PriceRite stores in overlapping trade areas—thus, most stores operate in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
or Pennsylvania, outside ShopRite's core markets. Two stores in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
are operated under a franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
agreement with Wakefern.
History of PriceRite Limited Assortment Stores
It was 1995 when The Wakefern Food Corporation opened its first limited-assortment concept store in West Springfield, MassachusettsWest Springfield, Massachusetts
The Town of West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,391 at the 2010 census...
. After failing to successfully enter the warehouse club
Warehouse club
A warehouse club is a retail store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers are required to buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, which makes these clubs attractive to both bargain hunters and small business owners. The clubs are able to keep prices low...
market with their PriceRite Warehouse Club concept (see below), Wakefern assigned the PriceRite name to its newest prototype: a limited-assortment, deep-discount supermarket meant to do battle with the no-frills operators which were successfully spreading across North America (Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
, Food Basics
Food Basics USA
Food Basics is a no-frills supermarket chain operated by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in the northeastern United States. The Food Basics concept began in Canada, where it was launched by A&P's Canadian subsidiary. The two chains are no longer connected, as the Canadian Food Basics is...
, Save-a-Lot
Save-A-Lot
Save-a-Lot is a discount supermarket chain headquartered in Earth City, Missouri, near St. Louis, United States. The subsidiary of Supervalu comprises approximately 1,250 stores in the United States with over $4 billion in annual sales....
.)
In the years since the first PriceRite opened, the concept has been tweaked to emphasize the size and freshness of the perishable departments in comparison to its competition. Newer stores, such as the PriceRite of Brockton, MA (at over 40000 sq ft (3,716.1 m²)) are also larger than most of the earlier stores. Wakefern has also used the concept as a replacement for under-performing ShopRite stores or in markets where the PriceRite concept was thought to be more successful. As a result, underperforming ShopRite supermarkets in places like York, PA
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
and Wethersfield, CT
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
have been converted to very successful PriceRite stores, keeping jobs and a supermarket in these towns. A PriceRite in Torrington, CT sat as a darkened ShopRite store for almost 10 years before opening as a PriceRite location.
In 2005, one store was also opened in Azusa, CA, in partnership with Kvmart Corp., which is an independent supermarket operator in Southern California. The store has been branded "PriceRite Grocery Depot". Another PriceRite has since opened in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawaiian Gardens.
On March 30th, 2008 the first "PriceRite Marketplace" store was opened in Providence, Rhode Island in a former Shaw's
Shaw's Supermarkets
Shaw's, along with companion store Star Market, are wholly owned subsidiaries of Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based SuperValu. Together, Shaw's and Star Market comprise the third-largest grocery chain headquartered in New England; behind Stop & Shop and Hannaford, although Shaw’s is the largest grocery...
location. This store is 55000 sq ft (5,109.7 m²) and features additional departments such as a full deli and fish counter as well as a Cafe Bustelo branded Cafe in the store. Other non-standard PriceRite features include a fresh roasted peanut stand and fresh mozzarella cheese made in the store. The store has a large focus on ethnic items with an entire aisle of Goya products and an aisle of Italian items including fresh pasta and specialty cheeses. These selections reflect that the store is located in the Eagle Square shopping center on the western border of Federal Hill.
PriceRite Warehouse Clubs
During the 1980s and early 1990’s, many American supermarket chains experimented with opening their own warehouse clubs to compete with the new clubs that were invading their trade areas and stealing market share away. SuperValuSupervalu (United States)
SuperValu Inc. is a United States grocery retailer and distributor. The corporation, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been in business for over a century. It is the third-largest food retailing company in the United States , and ranks #51 on the Fortune 100 list.On June 2, 2006,...
had Max-Club; Meijer
Meijer
Meijer, Inc. is a regional American hypermarket chain based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 196 stores are located in Michigan, with additional locations in...
had SourceClub; H-E-B
H-E-B
HEB Grocery Company, LP is a privately held San Antonio, Texas-based supermarket chain with more than 315 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an upscale organic and fine foods retailer.H-E-B ranked No...
had its Bodega clubs and ShopRite
ShopRite
ShopRite, Shoprite, Shop Rite or Shop-Rite may refer to:* Shoprite , the South African food distributor* Shoprite , the Isle of Man-based food retailer that once traded in the United Kingdom...
opened PriceRite. Wakefern defined PriceRite as a “mini-club”, and at under 50000 sq ft (4,645.2 m²)., promoted it as a convenient alternative to the massive conventional clubs.
The logo was the same as the old ShopRite logo, only instead of the graphic of a shopping carriage with circles inside, there was a flatbed cart with square boxes on it to symbolize the wholesale nature of the store. (This saved costs on new sign-frames for the stores, since they all were previously a ShopRite and already had round sign-frames)
Unfortunately, the PriceRite MiniClubs were opened in buildings that had previously housed ailing or outdated ShopRite stores and had been simply retrofitted with warehouse-type shelving. Thus, they were much too small and didn't have enough of a following to attract shoppers away from the true warehouse competition which was opening new outlets all over the New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. (BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. , commonly referred to simply as BJ's, is a membership-only warehouse club chain operating on the United States East Coast, as well as in the state of Ohio...
, Pace Warehouse Club and Price Club
Price Club
Price Club was the pioneer of the warehouse store. Founded by Sol Price in San Diego, California in 1976, the company charged shoppers a $25 annual membership fee to purchase bulk products at discount prices in a no-frills warehouse setting. Price Club's high sales volume enabled Price to give his...
.)
Wakefern members operated PriceRite mini-clubs in Rockaway Township, New Jersey
Rockaway Township, New Jersey
Rockaway Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 24,156....
; Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River, New Jersey
Toms River is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Toms River Township and is the county seat of Ocean County, New Jersey. It is part of a larger Toms River Township...
and Fishkill, New York
Fishkill, New York
Fishkill is an upscale village within the much larger town, Town of Fishkill, one of the fastest growing towns in the region, in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The village population was 1,735 at the 2000 census...
. The last PriceRite club closed in 1994.