Co-owner Vincent LoCurcio (l.) and construction manager Frank Salas prepare for opening of new Belleville ShopRite, as evidenced by new signage.
BELLEVILLE –
The township’s newest supermarket at the Belleville Center at the north end of Washington Ave. is on schedule to open Nov. 3, predicted Vincent LoCurcio, who, with partner David Infusino, is co-owner of the Belleville ShopRite.
They also operate the Nutley ShopRite store.
“We’re ready to go,” LoCurcio told The Observer as he toured the new facility last week with his architect/construction manager Frank Salas, president of CSR Construction Corp. of Nutley. “We’re down the home stretch.”
ShopRite fills the space previously occupied by Pathmark, which was a fixture at the Washington Ave. shopping center for three decades until its closing in October 2010.
LoCurcio said the new store will, essentially, be a mirror image – albeit a bit smaller – of the longtime Nutley market. It becomes the anchor tenant of the Belleville Center. Other remaining tenants are Kelly’s Liquors, Pizza Hut, O M Jewelers and United Check Cashing.
The Belleville facility will be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, he said. The 40,000 square feet of “selling space” will feature a pharmacy, floral shop, baked foods, and the usual host of produce and household wares.
Some 270 employees, including many from Belleville and the surrounding area, have been hired to work at the supermarket, LoCurcio said.
Shoppers will have access to surface and underground parking and an elevator will convey them from the garage directly to the market or to the mall lobby.
Last week, workers were busy assembling grocery racks and shelving and there were rows of checkout counters visible from the mall lobby.
“There will be baggers at every checkout,” LoCurcio said.
Belleville resident Tony Sessa, who has 35 years prior experience in the food industry, was hired six months ago as the Belleville ShopRite store manager, LoCurcio said.
– Ron Leir
