NOVEMBER 2024
The Griffin Report of the Northeast salutes
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Wakefern – Powering success of membership for nearly eight decades
Wakefern President Mike Stigers took to the stage Oct. 17 at the Hilton in Parsippany, New Jersey, for Wakefern Food Corp.’s Annual Meeting. In the ballroom audience and tuning in virtually were thousands of retail and corporate team members who came together to hear important business updates from leadership and plans for the next year.
It’s a much-anticipated fall event and a time for Wakefern colleagues and the families that make up the cooperative to reflect on the past and consider what’s next for a cooperative that will turn an impressive 78 in December.
Stigers, a supermarket industry veteran who joined Wakefern in June 2023, took to the Annual Meeting stage for the second time along with Sean McMenamin, a Wakefern member who was named chairman last year. The two new leaders talked about the continued success, bright future and possibilities for the Keasbey, New Jersey-based cooperative.
“All of our accomplishments – from the past year and from the previous 78 years of Wakefern history – bring us to today. Right here. Right now,” Stigers told the audience. “To this moment when we get to decide how we are going to grow this cooperative for generations to come.”
And Wakefern has grown a lot over the decades – from a small cooperative consisting of eight neighborhood grocers into a supermarket leader in the Northeast and the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States. A pioneering spirit and commitment to innovation and cooperation among members has fueled that growth over nearly 80 years and positioned Wakefern for the future. For this reason, and numerous others, Wakefern has been named The Griffin Report’s Northeast Cooperative of the Year for 2024.
The cooperative today is made up of 45 members who independently own and operate supermarkets under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Fairway Market, Gourmet Garage, Dearborn Market and Di Bruno Bros. banners. A total of 364 stores operate across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and retail sales this year reached a record $20.1 billion.
Together with its member companies, the cooperative encompasses nearly 80,000 team members and is one of the
Wakefern at a Glance
◾ Founded in 1946
◾ Supporting family-owned businesses for four generations
◾ 45 members and growing
◾ Hundreds of supermarkets – ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market and Di Bruno Bros. stores throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
largest employers in New Jersey. Despite that size, Wakefern is still made up of family businesses and committed to its mission of “Helping Small Business Succeed in a Big Business World.”
Wakefern’s early days
The commitment to small business is rooted in tradition. The nation’s biggest supermarket cooperative started out small with founders who operated local produce stands, butcher shops and superettes. The post-World War II period was the start of a challenging time for neighborhood grocers. During the war, customer loyalty to local, mom-and-pop grocers was strong, but afterward, bigger self-service supermarkets were offering shoppers a wider selection at lower prices and loyalty to independents began to wane.
In 1946, in an effort to assist local mom-and-pop grocers, a sales representative from Del Monte Foods introduced eight New Jersey grocers to the idea of pooling their resources to purchase products at lower cost. The grocers banded together and used their new cooperative buying power to offer customers goods at more competitive prices. Wakefern Food Corp. was incorporated on Dec. 5, 1946.
Each of the eight founding members put up $4,000 to start the business, and the Wakefern name was created with initials from four of the original founders. Those grocers included Louis Weiss, Alex “Al” Aidekman and Abe Kesselman. The “fern” came from Dave Fern, who operated a market in Millburn, New Jersey.
The next wave of early Wakefern members and leaders included John Tully of Tully’s Market in Arlington, New Jersey; Nick Sumas, who started a small produce stand in South Orange, New Jersey, with help from his brother Perry; and Joseph Saker of the Saker family, who understood the importance of growing his family’s grocery store by joining the fledgling cooperative. Today, the Saker family’s Saker ShopRites and the Sumas family’s Village Super Market Inc. represent the two largest Wakefern members. Both opened new ShopRite stores this year.
“What strikes me about Wakefern and its members is the unique entrepreneurial spirit and steadfast commitment to investing in their family businesses to enhance their stores and make them the best they can be for customers,” Stigers said.
Not your traditional co-op
Another defining move for Wakefern came when the ShopRite banner was launched. Wakefern’s early members understood the power of shared purchasing but they also realized that they needed shared advertising, marketing and a shared name so shoppers understood the value the stores offered. The first ShopRite ad ran in March 1951 – a full-page advertisement in the Newark Evening News. It cost $1,000, and each member had to pay a portion of the cost.
“The very founding of the company demonstrated the art
of the possible,” Stigers added. “Early members made the critical decision to operate under a single banner – the ShopRite banner – and to build a brand together. It was a brilliant move and different than other cooperatives. It’s one of the big reasons Wakefern remains successful 78 years later.”
Today there are nearly 280 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, serving millions of customers each week.
While ShopRite remains the “workhorse” banner of Wakefern, the cooperative has diversified over the years by adding new banners. Alternate banners include Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Dearborn Market and, most recently, Philadelphiabased Di Bruno Bros.
“Our most recognizable banner is ShopRite, and our stores are well-known for affordable prices and a wide selection of name-brand groceries, fresh foods and store-made recipes as well as award-winning private label products in the traditional supermarket setting,” Stigers noted. “But members are also expanding with alternate banners like the Fresh Grocer, whose smaller footprint allows us to go into new locations with solid fresh offerings at affordable prices.”
Wakefern member Inserra Supermarkets and the Inserra family opened a Fresh Grocer earlier this month in Ringwood, New Jersey, and they plan to open another Fresh Grocer in Downtown Brooklyn next year. Member K. Thompson Foods and the Thompson family opened the first Fresh Grocer in New York on Long Island in August.
Wakefern also recently acquired the Di Bruno Bros. portfolio of Italian and European specialty products that are distributed nationally to wholesale and retail customers. The much-loved Philadelphia-based Di Bruno Bros. brand is a pioneering specialty food retailer and purveyor of gourmet cheeses and cured meats. The five Di Bruno Bros. stores in the city are being operated by Wakefern member Brown’s Super Stores, which is owned by the Brown family.
Stigers using all career experiences at helm of largest retailer-owned co-op
Mike Stigers is in his second year of serving as president of Wakefern Food Corp., a role he feels he was preparing for throughout his five-decade career in the grocery industry.
Stigers started out as a part-time courtesy clerk at Safeway in California in 1974. Over the years, in subsequent roles in retail and wholesale, he gained a vast amount of experience in operations, merchandising, retail technology, food safety, supply chain and fresh. Prior to joining Wakefern, he was CEO of Minnesotabased Cub Foods, a subsidiary of UNFI, the largest publicly traded wholesaler and food distributor in North America. Before that, he spent eight years at Supervalu, beginning in 2011 as president of Shaw’s/Star Market in New England.
In 2013, Stigers went on to lead SuperValu’s northern wholesale region. In 2014, he was named president of Cub Foods. In 2016, he was promoted to EVP of Supervalu wholesale and supply chain services and held that role until it was acquired by UNFI in 2018. He also has spent time on the supplier side and is active in industry trade associations, having served as past president of Western Association of Food Chains and past chair of the National Grocers Association.
Former Wakefern President Joe Sheridan, who was with Wakefern for 47 years before retiring in 2023, said Stigers understands Wakefern’s unique culture and structure, which is at the heart of its success.
“I believe Mike Stigers is the right leader who will preserve the best of who we are and at the same time continue to move Wakefern forward,” Sheridan said when announcing his successor last year.
The deal secured the future for the family-operated Di Bruno Bros. while presenting new opportunities for Wakefern with the addition of the brand to the cooperative’s portfolio. And the arrangement once again demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit of Wakefern, its family members and the art of the possible.
“We are committed to growing the Di Bruno Bros. brand and expanding distribution while remaining true to the Di Bruno family’s tradition of great food and outstanding quality,” Stigers said of the recent deal.
Wakefern’s committee structure also plays a key role in the company’s success and its ability to fulfill its mission to help small business succeed in a big business world.
Cooperative members represent multi-generational families who have been in the grocery business for decades and are invested in their businesses and the communities where their stores operate. Members share their knowledge with Wakefern team members on cooperative committees that innovate and support stores and retail teams.
“The first thing I noticed when I came to Wakefern was the talent and dedication of the people around me. Our team members come to work each day with the intention of doing
Here, Stigers speaks about Wakefern and his belief that the future will only get brighter for the 78-year-old company.
What makes Wakefern unique?
It’s this large, $20 billion company that is retailer-owned by 45 families – and those family businesses are incredible. When you look at how the company was formed, almost 78 years ago, with a simple promise of allowing the independent, small business to compete in a world dominated by multi-national firms, that promise still stands true today. And that’s what we continue to do – help small business succeed in a big business world.
It’s also a very dynamic group of talented member families, as well as just an excellent group of Wakefern team members. Through our collaboration, which can often involve some very strong debates and discussions, we come up with some really good ideas and strong support for each other.
That’s why the cooperative has continued to attract new members -- members like David Maniaci, who joined the cooperative in 2019 and successfully converted his stores to The Fresh Grocer. He has two sons, Rocco and Nick, who are in the business and passionate about it – just like their dad. They are proud to be part of the cooperative.
Then you look at Pat Burns and his family with the different stores they operate in Philadelphia. Pat brought The Fresh Grocer to us more than a decade ago, and now he has some ShopRites as well, and other Wakefern members are opening Fresh Grocer stores in new markets.
We have the Slawsby family up in Boston. When I was president of Shaw’s for Supervalu, I remember working with Harold Slawsby, and now the Slawsbys are part of Wakefern, operating Price Rite Marketplace stores in Boston. Harold is the patriarch, but his sons, Jonathan and Todd, are running the company.
It’s just fun to watch multi-generational families who have been part of Wakefern forever, and those that are just joining the cooperative. We’re all excited to be here.
Tell us more about the Next Generation program.
We have the ability to bring some different educational opportunities to our next-gen family members so they not only understand what their grandparents and parents did in the business, but also where the industry is today and how we can help them bring those family values into the future to ensure success.
Our Next-Gen program at Wakefern is designed to make
the right thing for our members, our staff and team members in the stores. It’s inspiring,” Stigers said.
In addition to operating neighborhood supermarkets, Wakefern’s members also have deep roots in the community where their stores operate. From fighting hunger to promoting sustainability and health and wellness for associates and customers, Wakefern is a leader in both the supermarket industry and in corporate responsibility.
Wakefern’s signature hunger-fighting initiative, ShopRite Partners In Caring, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and Wakefern team members participated in the annual tradition of volunteering at Special Olympics New Jersey and the ShopRite-sponsored LPGA event. The cooperative also established a $1 million scholarship at Kean University in the name of Wakefern’s former president, Joe Sheridan, who retired last year after 47 years with the company.
Stigers said he’s excited now to take the reins of the storied company: “When we work together, with shared goals, we accomplish what others would say is impossible for a group of independent retailers.
“Our future and long-term success will depend upon us growing beyond our traditional boundaries, embracing new
sure the next generation really understands how Wakefern works. It covers the committee structure that we have, as well as the work of the board of directors and corporate governance.
The program is varied and ongoing and offers next-gen operators a chance to network and spend time with each other. It’s a way to keep that family entrepreneurial spirit alive within the cooperative.
We’re also putting together extended educational opportunities for all our employees – teammates, managers, directors and vice presidents. We work with St. Joseph’s, Cornell – excellent universities we’ve worked with for a long time.
We also use programs from FMI and NGA, and we’re bringing in the Food Industry Management program out of USC Marshall Executive Education. We sent five executives to the program in September, and over the next year we will have USC professors here on site, working with our managers, directors and vice presidents.
It’s just really an exciting way that we can provide additional educational opportunities for all of our leaders within the company.
Continuous education and lifelong learning are so important. I didn’t get my bachelor’s degree until I was 50 [bachelor of science degree in applied economics from the University of San Francisco], and then I got my graduate degree when I was 60 [a master of science in food industry leadership from the University of Southern California].
business opportunities and thinking differently about how we leverage the services we provide. It’s the art of the possible, and we know the cooperative can do it.”
Wakefern has a large trucking fleet with thousands of trailers on the road each year servicing the cooperative’s banners and wholesale customers with fresh, high-quality products – fast.
Mike Stigers
Please see page 18
Wakefern President Mike Stigers celebrates with 2024 ShopRite LPGA Classic Champion Linnea Strom. Since 1992, ShopRite has served as a title sponsor of the tournament, an annual event that empowers female athletes and supports the game of golf.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Tell us about how you got into this business.
I’ve been so very fortunate. I just marked my 50th anniversary in the grocery business. I started as a junior in high school, working the carts at Safeway stores in Los Angeles.
I became a store manager at 21 and then went on to become a district manager and had the opportunity to move on to my next venture at another company. But I was at Safeway for 14 years, and that’s definitely my foundation, that’s what gave me the foundational skills to understand the grocery industry and entrepreneurial spirit. It’s where the love of this business began.
What do you enjoy about Wakefern?
Wakefern is a combination of everything I’ve ever done in the business. It brings all my work experience together. I have been very blessed to be able to operate grocery companies on the West Coast, in the Midwest and, now, the East Coast, and to have also run wholesale divisions supplying independents throughout the country.
When I ran wholesale for SuperValu, we operated in all 50 states and in international operations. So, I really love the wholesale side as well as retail, and Wakefern is just that unique combination of both.
It’s like wholesale is my second language, retail is my first language.
It’s kind of fun when I can flip back and forth with the Wakefern team, whether I’m discussing a wholesale situation versus a conversation about what we’re going to do at retail.
And I love the people at Wakefern. I’ve had such great respect over the years for the company and its leaders. I had the opportunity to work with Joe Sheridan, who I respected for decades in the industry. I spent almost six months, he and I in the same building, having a great time as I got to know Wakefern. And Joe is still just a phone call away, and that’s what’s really cool, how all this collaboration just continues.
What opportunities are there for Wakefern to grow?
I’ve got to tell you, we are so excited about the opportunities that we have here at Wakefern. We are focused on our future and our growth potential.
We see some excellent opportunities for new retail growth and expansion in our wholesale operations.
The cooperative also offers incredible services to our members today that have a lot of value. Anything that the chains do in the back end of a grocery store, we have those support services for our members – financial services,
construction services, training, education, development, IT – anything that a grocery store needs to have done on the back end to make it a functional grocery store, we provide those services. And we are definitely open to providing those services to other folks in the industry and retailers because we believe we have a lot to offer.
One of the most exciting things we’ve done recently is the expansion into the CPG world. In April, Wakefern member Brown’s Super Stores and the Brown family announced plans to assume operations of the iconic Di Bruno Bros. retail stores in Philadelphia, so Di Bruno is now one of our Wakefern brands. And we’re very proud to have this specialty grocery brand at the retail level.
Wakefern, meanwhile, purchased the CPG side of Di Bruno Bros., so now we have a specialty products brand that is structured for national distribution, which is very different for us.
We’re very excited about that expansion into what we call a complementary part of our industry, and we are excited to bring the Di Bruno Bros. brand to customers and do some great things with this incredible brand.
Think of what you need for charcuterie and appetizers and a good Italian meal; that’s what Di Bruno brings. The stores that the Browns run under that brand have got incredible delis, ready-to-eat meals and just full-quality Italian deli offerings. It’s the meats, the cheeses, the crackers, the stuffed peppers, the olives.
There are probably 20 different types of cheeses, parmesan, all the hard Italian cheeses and some soft cheeses including incredible cheese spreads. And a lot of meats, salami, pepperoni, La Sabrosa Italian meats. And, of course, delicious crostini, the crackers and all the things that Emilio Mignucci, our VP for the Di Bruno Bros. brand, knows about.
Emilio is a cheese expert and the grandson of one of the Di Bruno Bros. founders. He’s a
third-generation operator, and we want to encourage that family, entrepreneurial spirit and expertise for this gourmet food company.
We also have a new leader that we just brought on to help guide us and run the CPG side. Rick Brindle [formerly of Mondelēz International] … he’s advising the Di Bruno growth and development of the brand. And we couldn’t be more proud to have him.
We have a sales team that is out selling Di Bruno. We sell right now to other retailers in our trade area, to other wholesalers, and we sell to distributors.
It’s a quality brand, and we bought it just for that reason. We did not want to buy it and then transition it to another one of our own brands; we wanted to really vertically integrate what we call a strategic business unit, so that way we could also expand the growth and capabilities of Wakefern.
What inspires you most about the industry?
You know, the industry is about people. I absolutely love it. I always tell people, we are in the people business, selling groceries. And I practice every day to be a better servant leader than I was yesterday. I believe we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in that order.
This is not an easy industry. For people to be in this business for a long time, it’s hard work. Let’s be honest, you’re selling groceries, it’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s holidays.
But it’s also rewarding, and I love it because you get the people and families that are in it and also love it. We’re here to serve, we’re here to help, we’re here to develop, we’re here to train. You know, my job is to make sure everybody has the tools to do their job.
Wakefern’s Wholesome Pantry line offers nutritious, wholesome and USDA Certified Organic goods that are free from artificial ingredients and additives and more accessible and affordable for everyone.
Wakefern launched its award-winning Bowl & Basket line of on-trend foods in 2019. There are more than 4,000 value-driven and flavor-forward products now available.
Wakefern recently acquired the Di Bruno Bros. portfolio of specialty products that are distributed nationally to both wholesale and retail customers.
Wakefern’s Paperbird own brands product line includes beautifully designed effective household products.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
McMenamin: Annual family meeting continues to inspire members
Sean McMenamin began attending Wakefern’s Annual Meeting before he even joined his family’s business, McMenamin Family ShopRite. His parents and sister were running the business at the time, and though he was a practicing attorney, he would take time out each year to attend the yearly gathering with his family.
It was that gathering – and the dynamic between cooperative members and Wakefern – that ultimately played a role in his decision to join the family business.
“You’d see these grocers and they were kind of larger than life, and everybody was there. It was a great, inspiring experience. I’m sure that played a part in me joining the business –seeing this fellowship between the Wakefern team and the membership. It inspired me then, and it still does.”
McMenamin, who today serves as president of McMenamin Family ShopRite and operates his family’s two ShopRite stores in Philadelphia, was installed as Wakefern’s chairman in 2023, the same year that Mike Stigers was named as the cooperative’s new president.
Joseph Colalillo, who served as chairman for 18 years before passing the baton to McMenamin, said in announcing the new leadership team last year: “Sean is a second-generation grocer who believes in the mission of our cooperative. He recognizes that Wakefern succeeds when all of its members succeed. Both Sean and Mike are strong leaders who will confidently navigate the challenges ahead to make sure Wakefern continues to grow and succeed.”
Next-gen grocers
This year, McMenamin had the honor of presenting Colalillo, who operates five ShopRites as president of ShopRite of Hunterdon County, with the Chairman’s Award at the Annual Meeting. The special honor is given each year
to a person who embodies the spirit of the cooperative and embraces its values of integrity, teamwork and innovation.
“Joe served this cooperative with pride, distinction and integrity – always working tirelessly for our team members and all the stakeholders in our cooperative. We thank him for his 18 years of distinguished leadership as chairman. He has made Wakefern stronger and better through his guidance and leadership. He has not only made me a better leader, but more importantly a better person,” McMenamin said in recognizing his friend and mentor.
Strength of co-op
Like his predecessor, McMenamin has a unique viewpoint as both chairman of Wakefern and a member retailer.
“The work and support that the Wakefern team provides allows me as a member – and our membership as a whole – to do what we do best, which is to execute at store level and to give back to our customers,” he said.
“In this world, with how this industry has changed, being a ‘true independent,’ if you’re out there alone, it’s a tough world to be in. With everything Wakefern does behind the scenes – from tech services to advertising to marketing and compliance and engineering – the cooperative’s services allow us, the members, to focus on serving the customer, which is the heart of the business.
“With Wakefern, we have a highly proficient, highly engaged corporate team that works hand-in-hand with our member owners to consistently deliver the best experience for our customers. From the outside looking in, we appear as a big supermarket chain. But when you start peeling those layers away, we are a collection of small, family-owned and -operated businesses with big chain capabilities. We share a common mission and a common vision. I think that sets us apart in today’s competitive and diverse marketplace.”
It’s the best of both worlds: The ability to operate as an independent grocer but with the services and support of a $20 billion company, he said. “It gives us great strength – and a competitive edge.”
Hearing from members
Part of McMenamin’s job as chairman also involves visiting member stores. He and Stigers make those visits together, sitting down with members to hear what’s on their minds.
McMenamin said it’s one of his most rewarding experiences as chairman. “It gives me a chance to sit down at the table with the family – often multiple generations from the family – and just listen to their ideas of what challenges they might be facing. That’s when you see the grit, determination and entrepreneurial spirit of our membership. There’s something very unique about that.”
Not only is Wakefern there to offer help, support and advise, but the other members are also there to lend support, he noted.
“When a challenge emerges, members know that they’re probably not the first family-owned business in the cooperative to face such an issue. There are 45 other businesses that you have access to – and you can call them anytime for advice. And we do. It happens, every day,” said McMenamin, adding that he’d had three phone calls that morning.
“Members have the benefit of hearing a variety of perspectives or approaches from other members, but they also have the backing of Wakefern’s professional teams, who lend valuable resources and expertise.”
Meeting today’s challenges
McMenamin acknowledged that everyone is “keenly aware” of what increased costs in recent years have done to retailers and industries of all kinds across the country.
“Certainly, supermarkets are not immune to today’s economic pressures. We feel it every day in our cost structure, and we know customers are dealing with the same pressure,” he said. “I’m very proud of how our Wakefern team and our membership continues to deliver value to our customers during these challenging times, and we also know that we must continue to be relentless in our pursuit to find and deliver value to our customers, wherever we can.
“At the same time, we know that we have to continue to reinvest into the business and continue on our growth path. That means adding new banners and members, finding new sites, remodeling our stores and getting creative about how we can expand our services and scope.”
Those efforts are complemented with investment in technology, logistics and enhancing the cooperative’s service proposition, he said. “Because, ultimately, at the end of the day, our goal of continual improvement comes down to delivering a customer value proposition.”
Wakefern Chairman Sean McMenamin (right) presented the Chairman’s Award to former chairman Joe Colalillo at the 2024 Annual Meeting.
Sean McMenamin, president of McMenamin Family ShopRite, was announced as Wakefern’s chairman at the 2023 Annual Meeting, a post previously held by member and ShopRite of Hunterdon County President Joseph “Joe” Colalillo.
Next-generation Wakefern members carry on their family businesses. From left: Andrew Kent of Glass Gardens, Sam Colalillo of ShopRite of Hunterdon County and Jennifer Colligas of Colligas Family Markets.
Like many Wakefern members, Wakefern Chairman Sean McMenamin works with his family to run ShopRite stores. He’s pictured here with his sister, Bria McMenamin.
Philadelphia-based McMenamin Family ShopRite recently completed a storewide remodel of the ShopRite of Morrell Plaza.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Wakefern’s growing base of banners
While the pandemic stifled new store growth for a time, McMenamin said the growth mindset is back at Wakefern, and member retailers have a strong stable of banners to tap for growth:
◾ ShopRite – Wakefern’s most recognizable banner, ShopRite stores are well known for affordable prices and a wide selection of name brand groceries, fresh foods and unique member-developed recipes, as well as award-winning private label products in the traditional supermarket setting.
◾ Price Rite Marketplace – Offers a simplified, curated shopping experience that includes a limited assortment of top name brands along with store brands, fresh produce and meats at exceptional prices.
◾ The Fresh Grocer – Specializes in fresh offerings and prepared meals at a good value in a smaller store footprint; priority is placed on providing products to meet the needs of the neighborhood.
◾ Dearborn Market – A standalone market located in Holmdel, New Jersey, Dearborn has a rich legacy of providing farm-fresh fruits and vegetables and favorite family recipes. Starting off as a roadside farmstand in 1925, Dearborn expanded over the years and now includes a delicatessen, gourmet kitchen, specialty bakery and garden center.
◾ Gourmet Garage – An urban banner and specialty supermarket operating in Manhattan, Gourmet Garage offers organic produce, signature soups, artisan baked local bread and pastries, specialty olive oils and chef-prepared meals to go.
◾ Fairway Market – Another urban market, Fairway operates in Manhattan and offers groceries, fresh foods, smallbatch goods, specialty coffees, imports and other foodie finds.
◾ Di Bruno Bros. – Originating in Philadelphia, Di Bruno Bros. recently joined the Wakefern family of brands. Di Bruno Bros. stores offer a large selection of specialty groceries, including gourmet cheeses, meats, olives, oils, crackers and anything else one may need for a memorable charcuterie board, as well as prepared foods, select grocery items and beverages.
Wakefern
ShopRite
The Fresh Grocer
Dearborn Market
McMenamin said Wakefern is defining strategies for each of the cooperative banners as it seeks to grow those brands and assist members in opening new stores under alternate banners.
Wakefern member K. Thompson Foods and the Thompson family opened the first Fresh Grocer in New York on Long Island in August. And the Inserra family and Inserra Supermarkets are opening their first Fresh Grocer store this November at Fieldstone Plaza in Ringwood, New Jersey.
While the family plans a major renovation of the space over the next year, Lawrence Inserra Jr., chair and CEO of Inserra Supermarkets, said they wanted to make sure to open
Store banners may differ, but Wakefern members always put their communities and customers first, McMenamin said.
“Owning a supermarket gives us each the opportunity to make a big impact in our communities,” he noted. “As much as I enjoyed practicing law and appreciate all the training and work that is required in that profession, I was excited to join the family business knowing I could support my community in meaningful ways and make an impact on a daily basis. Being in the store is often the best part of my day.”
the store in time for the holidays to provide the community with access to a full-service supermarket.
Gourmet Garage
Fairway Market
Di Bruno Bros.
Price Rite Marketplace
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
New and renovated supermarkets keeping community top of mind
Wakefern members continue to open state-of-theart stores and renovate existing ones to better serve their customers and communities.
When Wakefern member RoNetco Supermarkets opened the new ShopRite of Sussex in Sussex, New Jersey, last fall, the Wallkill Valley High School Marching band performed and the local American Legion unit conducted a flag-raising ceremony to help kick off the grand opening. The celebration was a reminder of the company’s strong connection to community.
The Sussex store is the ninth ShopRite location for the Romano family and their grocery business, which has operated for nearly a century in northwest New Jersey. At the grand opening, Dominick J. “DJ” Romano, co-president and COO of RoNetco Supermarkets, noted his family’s support of dozens of local charities, food pantries, community and first responder organizations and schools.
“RoNetco Supermarkets has a long history of commitment to the communities where our ShopRite stores operate, and we look forward to officially becoming a part of the great Sussex community,” he said.
The new Sussex store includes a specially designed temperature-controlled, in-store seafood market with experts to help with selection and recipe ideas; a full-service meat department with trained butchers; and Fresh-to-Table prepared foods with a variety of prepared foods and grab-andgo items including made-to-order sandwiches, take-home entrees and sushi.
“It was important to us that the community be part of the planning, and Old Bridge residents told us they wanted premium quality and inspiration in the new store,” said Perry Blatt, director of e-commerce and business development for Village Super Market, at the grand opening.
The Old Bridge store incorporates brands from other Wakefern banners with the Fairway Market Coffee Bar, which offers 20 Fairway bulk coffee blends, and chef-prepared meals, sides and soups from Manhattan-based Gourmet Garage.
When the new ShopRite of Hadley Commons opened in South Plainfield, New Jersey, in May, members of the Saker family, which owns and operates the store, greeted customers as they entered. The first 200 people in line received grocery gift bags filled with product samples and coupons, and the day’s celebration also included in-store samplings and outdoor food trucks and a grill station.
The close connections Wakefern members share with their communities was on full display as Saker ShopRites CEO and President Richard Saker and his son, Rick Saker, senior VP, welcomed customers to the grand opening of their newest store, the ShopRite of Hadley Commons.
The new store features Southeast Asian specialties, kosher and halal products and a fresh prepared foods department with Saker ShopRites’ World Class Kitchens and Dearborn Farms-branded meals to go.
The meat department is named for Patsy Inserra, a butcher who founded the family’s grocery business.
“It has been an honor to serve New Jersey shoppers since 1954, and this new store, along with our donations to local organizations, demonstrate our commitment to our neighbors. We thank our customers for their patience as we prepared the new store,” said Lawrence Inserra Jr., chairman and CEO of Inserra Supermarkets, in a press release announcing the store’s opening.
Continued investment
Wakefern member Cingari Family Markets, a 2024 The Griffin Report Exceptional Independents Award recipient, has a long commitment to the Connecticut communities where the company’s ShopRite stores have operated for decades.
“The seafood department in the Sussex store is unlike any seafood department I’ve seen anywhere in the country, and I’ve worked in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston – some huge seafood cities,” noted Wakefern President Mike Stigers.
“It’s that type of excitement when you go in and see these stores and all the good work and great investments member families are making.”
The Sumas family and their Village Super Market Inc. surveyed local residents for input when designing the new ShopRite in Old Bridge, New Jersey. The new store that opened in March even includes a café called the Knight’s Loft, named for the local high school’s athletic teams.
“Opening a new store is always a big moment for us because it represents our commitment to provide fresh, quality products and exceptional service in a state-of-theart store,” said Richard Saker, CEO and president of Saker ShopRite, at the grand opening.
Wakefern member Inserra Supermarkets and the Inserra family opened the ShopRite in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, just before Thanksgiving last year. As part of the celebration, the Inserra family and ShopRite Partners In Caring donated $10,000 to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, $5,000 in gift cards to the Elmwood Park Food Bank and 40 turkeys to St. Leo’s Church in Elmwood Park for Thanksgiving baskets.
The store features signature specialty Inserra departments, including Antoinette’s Kitchen with a hot bar and fresh prepared meals, and Patsy’s Butcher with trained butchers.
Wakefern members like DJ Romano, co-president and COO of RoNetco Supermarkets Inc., and his family pictured here invest in exceptional customer experiences such as their best-in-class seafood department in the ShopRite of Sparta. A similar temperaturecontrolled, in-store seafood market also was included in the new ShopRite of Sussex.
The ribbon was cut in late 2023 on the ShopRite of Elmwood Park, operated by Inserra Supermarkets.
Longtime Wakefern member Village Super Market celebrates the grand opening of its state-of-the-art Old Bridge ShopRite store.
The Cingari family
ShopRite of Sussex
Third and fourth generations of the Cingari family run the company today and are busy renovating stores each year as part of their plan to update all 12 locations with new and expanded offerings and departments, contemporary décor and eco-friendly display cases and lighting.
Wakefern member Zallie Family Markets and the Zallie family, another 2024 The Griffin Report Exceptional Independents Award recipient, marked its 50th anniversary in 2023 with more investment back into the business.
The family-owned and -operated South Jersey-based company opened a new store – the ShopRite of Center Square Plaza – in Woolwich, New Jersey, and completed a major renovation of their Glassboro store during their golden
anniversary year. The family also plans to open another new store, the ShopRite of Cherrywood Plaza, in Blackwood, New Jersey, in 2025.
And many other Wakefern member families continue to make improvements and renovations to their stores each day, as well as investments in their team members and operations.
Coming up…
Sunrise ShopRite, the family-owned company that operates ShopRite stores in Parsippany and West Caldwell, New Jersey, recently completed a major renovation of its Parsippany store while preparing to open a new West Caldwell store.
Sunrise hosted a groundbreaking in May for the muchanticipated location, which is under construction now at 900 Bloomfield Ave. Work is expected to be completed later next year, and the new store will replace the current ShopRite of West Caldwell on Passaic Avenue, which opened in 1967.
The new supermarket will be almost twice the size, with expanded departments, wine and spirits and a variety of prepared and grab-and-go gourmet meals crafted by trained chefs.
Wakefern Chairman Sean McMenamin, president of McMenamin Family Markets,
which operates two ShopRite stores in Philadelphia, said he’s excited by the energy and optimism in the cooperative.
“We all know it’s not easy for the independent grocer to thrive in today’s business climate. With all the disruptive changes in our industry, and the competition constantly upping their game, it takes a lot for small business owners to invest in our family businesses,” he said.
“That’s why being a Wakefern member plays such an important role in the success of each of the member-owned businesses that comprises Wakefern. We have 45 families that are part of the cooperative – but together with Wakefern’s services and support – we’re just one really large family.”
Wakefern member Zallie Family Markets’ new store, the ShopRite of Center Square Plaza in Woolwich Township, New Jersey, is one of the company’s recent major investments as it celebrated 50 years in the supermarket business.
Three generations of the Gladstein-Sblendorio family celebrate the groundbreaking of the new ShopRite of West Caldwell, which is opening in 2025.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Power of giving back: Families serving families drives cooperative forward
When you live and work in the communities you serve, giving back is part of your DNA. That is the driving force behind the corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts of Wakefern and its cooperative members.
Karen Meleta, chief communications officer for Wakefern, said those efforts focus broadly on addressing food insecurity and sustainability. But the cooperative and its member retailers also support thousands of local charities that are dedicated to helping the communities where their stores operate.
“Our membership has long been committed to supporting their regional food banks and local food pantries – it’s something everyone can get behind. We are in the supermarket business – and hunger is a problem we can help address,” said Meleta, who recently marked 25 years with Wakefern. “And our members also have charities that are near to their hearts – from juvenile diabetes and autism to contributing to local hospitals, funding cancer research, lending a hand to local sports teams and fire and rescue squads. Their impact really is deep and wide.”
Fighting hunger takes several forms
Wakefern’s ShopRite Partners In Caring (SRPIC) program was launched 25 years ago, in 1999, as a hunger-fighting initiative. Over the years, the program has contributed more than $65 million to soup kitchens, food banks and pantries, homeless shelters, senior citizen centers, women’s shelters and “other organizations that are on the front lines of fighting hunger,” Meleta said. “It could be an after-school program for youth, a program for seniors or the homeless. There’s a whole host of reasons why people find themselves unable to provide enough food for themselves or their family.
“We’ve seen tremendous support for the cause from our customers,” she added.
Customers are able to give back through fall fundraisers that occur during Hunger Action Month in September and during Check-Out Hunger, a six-week campaign that benefits Feeding America food banks.
And SRPIC marked its 25th anniversary this year by once again raising money and awareness around food insecurity with the annual Cheerios contest. The long-running contest, in partnership with Cheerios maker General Mills, encourages ShopRite stores to compete to raise money to combat hunger in local communities. Associates from participating ShopRite stores that raise the most money get their pictures featured on a Cheerios cereal box in March.
helped raise more than $1.5 million for SRPIC.
Check-Out Hunger is another important store fundraiser. Now a nationwide initiative, it originated in 1991 as a joint effort of Wakefern and the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Using a bar-coded coupon, customers could donate directly to the food bank. The program was such a success that it soon became a major fundraising tool for food banks across the country. Today, customers can make their donations on the pin pad at checkout.
“Our customers are very generous, and we’ve been averaging more than a $1 million each a year with the Check-Out Hunger campaigns,” Meleta said. “Those funds, wherever the store is located, go directly to regional food banks at the end of the fundraiser. That might be the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Lehigh Valley Food Bank, Philabundance, Hudson Valley Food Bank, etc. – we support food banks in every state where our stores are located,” she said.
In all, about 20 regional food banks and 2,500 local food pantries are recipients of donations – both food and money – from Wakefern and its member retailers in their nine-state operating area on the East Coast. Regional food banks direct the food to local food pantries that in turn serve those in need in their neighborhoods.
In-kind donations from Wakefern and stores also help food pantries increase the variety and quality of their offerings, including produce and fresh meat, but there are other less-evident benefits as well. Those donations offset the cost of food purchases, so funds can instead be spent on building important infrastructure needed such as refrigeration, freezers and shelving that help increase their capacity to serve their clients.
“Many of these food pantries operate out of tiny backrooms of churches or community centers; some get started out of someone’s garage. Often, they don’t have the infrastructure to support getting people the fresh food that they need,” noted Meleta. “This program has really helped to expand what the local food pantry can do for the community.”
In addition to the $3.2 million donated annually to food banks and hunger-fighting organizations through ShopRite Partners In Caring, Wakefern donates 10,000 pounds of turkey and other foods for holiday meals during the holiday season each year.
New ways to source food
Wakefern and ShopRite also work with America’s Growa-Row, a farm-based nonprofit that enlists volunteers to plant, pick, rescue and deliver fresh produce to people in need.
Wakefern and ShopRite team members often volunteer at Grow-a-Row farms and have helped pursue other creative and sustainable ways of providing food, including supporting
efforts to create a pollinator garden with 20 beehives to increase crop yields for local food pantries.
Grow-a-Row’s pollinator garden and its bees helped increase yields from 75,000 pounds of apples for donation in 2020 to more than 161,000 pounds of apples in 2021 – more than doubling the yield in just one year.
Wakefern team members and interns helped harvest tomatoes at America’s Grow-a-Row Farm in Pittstown, New Jersey, on Grow-A-Row Volunteer Day. The produce goes to local food banks and pantries.
Wakefern member Joseph Colalillo, president of ShopRite of Hunterdon County and former Wakefern chairman, established the relationship with America’s Grow-a-Row more than a decade ago, when he began donating produce that was good to eat but slightly bruised or imperfect for sale.
Today, volunteers from the organization still make regular trips to Colalillo’s ShopRite stores in Clinton and Flemington to rescue “not quite retail perfect” produce and deliver it to local food pantries.
This process, known as “gleaning,” not only helps fight hunger but also keeps good produce from being discarded. And team members from Colalillo’s five ShopRite stores often volunteer at Grow-a-Row farms to help harvest produce. Wakefern team members also have volunteered with Grow-a-Row.
“ShopRite has proven invaluable to our ability to help people in Hunterdon County and across New Jersey,” Chip Paillex, president and founder of America’s Grow-a-Row, said in a 2021 press release. “From ‘hands-on’ support from volunteers at our farms, to providing fresh produce to those in need, ShopRite has made a real impact on our organization and those struggling from food insecurity.”
Serving the underserved
Food deserts are areas that lack nearby options for healthy, affordable food, which can impact the health of residents. In the Northeast, where Wakefern’s retail members operate, food deserts are more likely to be found in urban areas.
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Looking out for consumers
While doing research to put together a book to trace the company history (“A Symphony of Soloists: The Story of Wakefern and ShopRite”), Chief Communications Officer Karen Meleta said she realized that Wakefern had long been an advocate for consumers.
Starting as early as the 1960s and continuing over the decades, Wakefern highlighted key consumer issues such as hunger, energy policy and product labeling with a series of consumer insight advertorials the company placed in newspapers.
“We’ve always believed in the consumer’s right to know,” she said. “Which is why we’ve often taken a leadership role on issues related to food safety and health and well-being.”
“While SRPIC works all year-long to serve the communities where ShopRite stores operate, the special Cheerios fundraising contest each September is a much-loved tradition that unites our customers, associates and the community in the fight against hunger,” Meleta said.
Last year, the annual Cheerios contest in September
With its strength as a trusted brand always focused on what matters most to its customers, Wakefern hired its first corporate dietitian in 2006. The goal was to engage with customers in a genuine and helpful way when it comes to their health and wellness decisions.
“Consumers should always have a choice when it comes to their food and nutrition needs. Our program provided customers with the information they needed to take simple steps to make healthier food choices so they could reach their wellness goals,” Meleta said.
ShopRite of Hoboken team members celebrate the Annual ShopRite Partners In Caring Cheerios Contest, posing with the special-edition Cheerios box featuring associates from the 45 top fundraising stores. ShopRite raised more than $1.5 million for food banks in their communities in 2024.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Price Rite Marketplace partners with
Feed the Children
Price Rite Marketplace, a Wakefern trademarked banner and wholly-owned subsidiary, also helps support the communities where its stores operate.
It’s biggest and most impactful annual fundraiser, Price Rite’s Feeding Minds & Bodies, focuses on getting food, supplies and school essentials to families in need each year.
At each event, families pre-identified by local community partners receive a 25-pound box of food, a 15-pound box of essentials and personal-care items and additional shelf-stable groceries provided by Price Rite Marketplace. School items such as backpacks and supplies are also provided.
Since partnering with Feed the Children in 2015 on the campaigns, Price Rite Marketplace has contributed more than 4 million pounds of food, totaling more than $13.5 million in in-kind donations, providing support through 66 community events and helping more than 207,000 people across the Northeast.
“Feed the Children is grateful to work alongside Price Rite Marketplace. A widespread issue like childhood hunger will only be solved when enough people work together,” Travis Arnold, president and CEO of Feed the Children, has said of the long-running campaign.
The supermarket brand has also raised more than $2 million for its Check-Out Hunger initiative since 2002.
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“We have members who try to locate stores in food deserts in order to create access to wholesome foods for communities that are struggling to get that access to fresh foods,” Meleta said.
Urban food deserts present some challenges for grocers to overcome when considering opening a location, including higher costs for building a store or remodeling an existing space and achieving the volume needed to be sustainable.
Wakefern member Brown’s Super Stores operates 17 ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer and Di Bruno Bros. stores in the Philadelphia area, with some stores located in former food deserts. The Brown family has a long history of ensuring communities and people have the services they need such as access to banking, traditional foods from their home country and job opportunities, including a second chance for those previously incarcerated. For their efforts, the company has been recognized over the years by many different organizations and local and national leaders, including the White House, which highlighted Brown’s Super Stores in 2010 for its work in food deserts.
Stepping up in times of crisis
Wakefern and its members can always be counted on to step in and help neighbors during challenging times.
Meleta recalled serving on the board of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
“Food banks experienced a tremendous impact during COVID when people started losing their jobs. And even though there were some government support programs, getting those benefits took time, so the food banks really stepped up to close the gap,” she said. “During that time, supply chain challenges were also being felt nationwide and Wakefern continued to assist food banks to fill the gap.”
Wakefern helped by donating $1 million in funds and food to Feeding America food banks when the pandemic hit.
And whether it’s a weather emergency such as Superstorm Sandy, a tragic fire that displaces local residents or a water main break, stores are there to answer the call for food, water, ice and supplies or direct donations.
“Our members always do their best to pitch in and help when there is immediate need in the community,” Meleta said.
For its commitment to community, Wakefern has been recognized over the years by myriad organizations. Just this year, the cooperative received Alzheimer’s New Jersey 2024 Circle of Honor Award for its long-time support of the organization and its respite programs for people living with dementia.
Also this year, Wakefern received the Food Award from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Other organizations that have acknowledged Wakefern’s generosity and support include Susan G. Komen for the Cure, South Jersey Food Bank, the Juvenile Diabetes Association and the list goes on.
Special Olympics really special to Wakefern
Getting volunteers for the Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games is easy for Wakefern, which has sponsored the event for nearly 40 years. It has become a family tradition for Wakefern team members, who bring their loved ones to volunteer at the games each year.
“ShopRite/Wakefern is just an incredible, longtime partner, and for almost four decades they’ve supported Special Olympics New Jersey,” Heather Andersen, president and CEO of Special Olympics New Jersey, said at this year’s games at the College of New Jersey. “We can’t do it without their kindness, generosity and passion.”
Nearly 500 Wakefern team members and their
families volunteered at the 2024 Special Olympics New Jersey Summer Games in June.
Wakefern sets up its own version of an “Olympic Village,” where it provides snacks, games and gifts to athletes, as well as lunch for the athletes and their families. This year, Wakefern supplied the athletes, their families and volunteers with about 10,000 meals during the two-day event.
“You really see the strength and the passion and heart and soul of our teammates here,” said Wakefern President Mike Stigers while volunteering at the event. “We couldn’t be more proud of the athletes competing … It’s about us giving back and being part of a bigger picture.”
Special Olympics New Jersey also kicks off the summer games each year with the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run, which raises funds and awareness for the Special Olympics program. The torch run stops at more than 40 ShopRite supermarkets throughout the state, where the company provides water, ice and fresh fruit for the participants on their way to delivering the torch to the games.
Sustainability key to taking care of business – and our environment
Wakefern has developed sustainable business practices for more than five decades, and the co-op and its members are recycling materials, reducing food waste and conserving energy to reduce their environmental impact.
At the Feeding Minds & Bodies fundraiser at the New Britain, Connecticut, Price Rite Marketplace.
More than $16,000 was donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank following Check-Out Hunger fundraising efforts at Price Rite earlier this year.
Wakefern associates and family members volunteer to serve meals donated by ShopRite at the New Jersey Special Olympics Summer Games – a favorite annual tradition.
Village Super Market unveiled the ShopRite of Greater Morristown’s new recycling kiosk, specifically designed for flexible-film plastic packaging. Customers can also find the kiosks at New Jersey ShopRite stores in Bloomfield, Newark, Livingston and Stirling. The pilot program was created in conjunction with TerraCycle and supporting brand partners P&G, Purina and Campbell’s Snacks.
2024 Northeast Cooperative of the Year
Tech Team helping member stores utilize technology to compete, excel
The Tech Team at Wakefern is always working on developing innovative services and capabilities that improve the shopping experience and shape it in meaningful ways.
“Our tech investment is focused on understanding the customer better – to create a richer customer experience. Tech enables us to predict and understand what the needs are for customers, and we believe that has become a core competency and a competitive advantage for our Wakefern members,” said Chief Information Officer John Jantson, who heads up the cooperative’s Tech Team.
In addition to member stores, Wakefern Tech deploys new technology across its distribution centers and supply chain to improve and enhance overall operations, and the cooperative is looking at ways to bring its tech expertise to clients outside the cooperative.
“With competition continuing to grow, you’re going to need to differentiate yourself, and technology is going to be one of those areas you can do that,” Jantson added. “I think technology is just as important as product assortment, just as important as location and, for the right customers, just as important as price. If you’re not utilizing technology appropriately, you’re not going to have the right message or experience for your customer.”
Store-level tech
While AI is a popular buzzword today, Wakefern remains focused on leveraging technology and AI where it makes the most sense for the business.
That means using technology to curate the best mix of products for stores and the best shopping experience while tapping tech efficiencies to help retail team members in their jobs. The combination of technology and brick-and-mortar member know-how is Wakefern’s winning formula.
In recent years, Wakefern Tech has helped members:
◾ Significantly increase processing capabilities;
◾ Use technology to take inventory and identify out-of-stocks;
◾ Offer new tools such as smart shopping carts at select stores;
◾ Improve checkout and home delivery; and
◾ Add electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to stores.
The latter replaces traditional paper shelf tags and the manual process of switching out thousands of price tags on a weekly basis.
With electronic shelf tags, prices are updated automatically, freeing up retail teams to focus more on customers and other key parts of the store. In addition, team members shopping online grocery orders in-store can use an app associated
with ESLs that alerts them to the correct item they need to select for their order.
“The (ESL) shelf tag flashes to them and says, ‘I’m here. Pick me,’ saving the team member even more time as they select the order,” notes Jantson.
Wakefern was an early adopter of electronic shelf labels and many of its member stores are adopting the technology and leading the grocery industry in their use. Because of their expertise, members of the Wakefern Tech Team have even
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facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Recycled plastic bags and pallet wrap are reused in the manufacturing of plastic lumber for decking and railroad ties.
Many stores are also upgrading lighting, refrigeration and other equipment to more efficient models. Energy-saving doors on frozen and dairy cases are now the standard and they keep tabs on energy use with special monitoring systems. Some stores also have installed solar panels to offset energy use, and others are moving to natural refrigerants.
In
Reducing food waste is another initiative where Wakefern members have made significant strides by ramping up composting and fresh food donations to keep tons of food waste out of landfills every year.
Wakefern member Cingari Family Markets operates 12 ShopRite stores in Connecticut. The stores are composting nearly 100 tons of organic material a month – compost that is converted to energy to power local homes and businesses. Cingari Family Markets also focuses on inventory management and food donations to reduce its waste stream by more
than 60 percent.
Wakefern is a long-time supporter of the Nature Conservancy, The Audubon Society, The Greater Newark Conservancy, Clean Ocean Action and groups looking to educate people about the vital role pollinator gardens play in the ecosystem. Planting trees, as well as park, beach and waterway cleanups, are some other ways Wakefern and ShopRite volunteers support their communities.
“We support a host of important and varied environmental advocacy groups across our trading areas, and we are proud of that,” Meleta said.
LPGA event has huge community impact
ShopRite continued its decades-long tradition of supporting women’s golf and giving back to community-based organizations at the 2024 ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer. The event was held in June at Seaview’s Bay Course in Galloway, New Jersey, and drew 144 players, including several of the world’s top-ranked competitors, major and past
champions and those making their tour debuts.
This year’s tournament also generated $1.5 million for food banks, hospitals, education and youth programs, and other community service organizations, and a luncheon was held June 7 to present those donations.
Representatives from more than 50 organizations accepted grants, and special guest speakers at the event included Wakefern President Mike Stigers; Elizabeth McCarthy, president and CEO of The Community FoodBank of New Jersey; Wakefern member Sandy Brown, chairwoman and EVP of Brown’s Super Stores; and Kenneth Zaentz, president and CEO of Alzheimer’s New Jersey.
“Our annual luncheon is a cherished tradition within the LPGA, and each year we look forward to honoring the organizations and advocates who contribute so much,” said Meleta, adding that over the last three decades, the tournament has raised more than $40 million for charitable causes in the communities where ShopRites operate.
“ShopRite and Wakefern’s support and generosity are vital to the success and impact of the LPGA, especially when it comes to giving back to the community,” Jeremy Friedman, media director for the tournament, said in a June press release. “We are incredibly proud to have them as our partners and the longest standing title sponsor on the LPGA Tour.”
2023, the Kinsley family flipped the switch on a 10-acre solar array located next to the ShopRite of Brodheadsville. The 4,300 solar panels are designed to supply nearly 90 percent of the store’s energy, reducing electricity costs and limiting the store’s environmental footprint.
The Green Team from Ravitz Family Markets, which operates five ShopRites stores in Burlington and Camden, New Jersey, participated in a cleanup with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. Volunteers helped remove invasive English ivy from Cooper River Park trails in Haddon Township.
Community FoodBank of New Jersey President and CEO Elizabeth McCarthy accepts a donation from Wakefern President Mike Stigers and Wakefern member Sandy Brown, EVP of Brown’s Superstores. The donation was one of many presented at the ShopRite LPGA Classic charity luncheon.
been asked to consult with other companies on their installation of ESLs.
Guided by Wakefern Tech, some stores also are implementing smart shopping carts, known as Caper Carts, to the delight of customers.
“Shoppers are excited about the technology and embracing it in the stores that are using the Caper Carts. It’s another tool our Wakefern members can offer customers who are looking for smart, convenient ways to shop and check out,” said Charlie McWeeney, VP of technology, digital and retail at Wakefern.
The cart, powered by Instacart, utilizes computer vision and sensors to detect items the shopper puts in the cart and automatically tallies them up, making it “a sort of self-checkout on wheels, as we colloquially refer to them,” McWeeney noted.
“It eliminates that concern of going over budget, while helping shoppers get what they want. That, to me, is a win-win on customer experience,” Jantson added.
Customers also can clip digital coupons through the Caper Cart and scan their Price Plus club card for even more savings and personalization. Additional enhancements are in development, such as a feature that would allow customers to load grocery items from their digital shopping list to the Caper Cart and display those items in aisle order for even easier shopping. Once the shopper gets to checkout, there’s no need to take items out of the cart; shoppers just scan a code and pay.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes on between the Wakefern technology team, our technology providers and the digital commerce team to make sure that the shopping experience and personalization is what the consumer expects when they’re shopping with new tech like Caper Cart,” said McWeeney.
Self-checkouts like the one at the recently renovated Brookdale ShopRite in Bloomfield, New Jersey, use the latest technology to make checkout more seamless for customers.
Warehouse tech:
Supplying right products
Shopper expectations are also top of mind in Wakefern distribution centers, where tech tools are used to manage and protect supply and ensure the cooperative has “the right product at the right time,” according to Jantson.
Michael Criscuolo, VP of technology, supply chain, business intelligence and innovation, said Wakefern is focused on “infusing innovation” into its distribution centers in much the same way it has in stores.
That starts at the procurement level by giving stores the right data so they can make optimal decisions based on what’s trending and selling before they order products that arrive at Wakefern’s distribution centers.
Wakefern is also using AI to gather additional important information like the impact of weather patterns on supply. Such information can help with forecasting on an item-level basis, providing procurement teams with the data they need to make the right buys and simultaneously sharing that information with Wakefern’s warehouse teams.
New state-of-the-art temperature monitoring systems in Wakefern distribution centers also play an important role in making sure perishable products and produce are at the right temperature. On board the trucks, tags applied to products use Bluetooth technology for touchless temperature checks.
These sound like supply chain issues, but they also are customer issues because they ultimately impact the shopping experience, Jantson noted.
Jantson believes technology will continue to be a differentiating factor for grocers and other retailers.
“We actually see ourselves as a technology company inside a grocery company, and we see our customers as both Wakefern and our members, but also the end customer as well. And that drives the way we think, that drives the way we act, and that drives the way we utilize technology,” he said.
Diversification
Wakefern’s Chief Information Officer John Jantson said Wakefern is open to offering its tech expertise to non-members, even those outside the grocery industry.
“Technology is reshaping much of the behindthe-scenes operations and showing up in so much of everything we do at retail and wholesale. We know we can leverage some of our capabilities to service and help other retailers. Our fundamentals are here, right down to our state-of-the-art data center. We can offer our tools and services to other retailers and wholesalers so that they don’t have to build out that same capability.”
Tech to the rescue...of tech
But tech is not perfect, of course, and the cooperative established a mobile response unit to quickly respond to those moments when tech issues arise and members need support.
The unit can be deployed with backups and replacements of all the critical devices typically found in stores, including handhelds and network devices, Wi-Fi or wired register components.
Resolution is key, and while mobile response units pride themselves on solving problems quickly, Wakefern also strives to prevent problems from happening in the first place.
“We make sure to build in all these redundancies into our systems,” Jantson said.
There are backup batteries, additional banks of network connections, cellular devices to accept credit cards and more. Jantson recalled an incident a couple of years ago when a credit card processing company went down that led Wakefern to install a switch that allows the store to toggle over to a second credit card processor should the need arise.
“We look at it from every aspect of what’s critical to a consumer and what’s critical to the operators and teams that are working in the store to keep the store up and operating and product on the shelves,” Criscuolo added. “And we think there’s a lot of potential for us to be able to bring that knowledge and our tech solutions and support to bear, even outside of our stores to other vertical markets.”
Wakefern is currently exploring ways to offer tech services to retailers and wholesalers who are not part of the cooperative – as a way to help other small businesses and help Wakefern members at the same time.
“Technology is reshaping much of the behind-the-scenes operations and showing up in so much of everything we do at retail and wholesale. We know we can leverage some of our capabilities to service and help other retailers. Our fundamentals are here, right down to our state-of-the-art data center. We can offer our tools and services to other retailers and wholesalers so that they don’t have to build out that same capability,” Jantson said.
The right motivation
Jantson points out that most of the leaders on his Tech Team have worked in grocery and in the stores and understand the needs and concerns of retailers, as well as customers. That knowledge helps as they consider the best tech tools for the future.
“When they’re working on something, I expect every person on my team to be able to tell me what the ROI is on the technology they are working on. They should be able to tell me why we’re building it from a business perspective, not from an IT perspective. We do not do technology for technology’s sake; we do technology for a business purpose and for a business reason – to drive real top-line and bottom-line results.”
The self-checkout area at the recently renovated Brookdale ShopRite in Bloomfield, New Jersey.