ShopRite of Stroudsburg kicked off the countdown to the opening of their new Stroud Mall store with a special celebration of their new hiring center on Friday, August 16.
Staff members of Village Super Market welcomed customers and interested jobseekers to visit the new hiring center at the mall, discuss the available openings, and taste-test some delicious treats like fresh-cut produce and pink Champagne cupcakes in the early afternoon.
The mall-based supermarket will require upwards of 250 employees, the bulk of which will be new hires, officials said.
“We need an amazing team of people to staff the store, and that’s really why we’re here today,” Amanda Fischer, marketing communications, business development and outreach manager for Village Super Market, Inc., said. “We’re talking about hiring and adding an additional 150 jobs to the community.”
Perry Blatt, third generation member of the Sumas family, the principal owners of Village Super Market, said that he looks forward to strengthening the bond between the market chain and local communities like Stroudsburg.
“We’ve been in the community since 1980,” Blatt said. “If anything, we’re doubling down on our relationship with the community.”
Edlyn Crespo, Village Super Market’s human resources manager, said that she was excited to see the turnout for the new hiring center.
“I’m so excited to be here with you all today,” Crespo said. “Along with our existing associates, we are bringing to the community 150 new jobs, from cake decorators to bartenders for Bin 37 to personal shoppers for ShopRite From Home, meat wrappers, deli clerks, you name it, we need you,” Crespo said.
Crespo encourages interested job seekers to visit shoprite.com and apply online, or to visit the hiring center at the Stroud Mall hiring center to get some help from a staff member.
Fischer said that the new store, which will occupy the old Bon-Ton store space, will go beyond the normal concept of a “supermarket.”
“It’s more of a place that’s a celebration of food and a social gathering space, so it’s unlike any other supermarket in the area or maybe any other supermarket that you’ve ever shopped in before,” Fischer said.
A variety of healthy, fresh and ready-to-eat options will be a major feature of the new location, Fischer said.
“We’ll have French fries and milkshakes and burgers, and a smokehouse with barbecue favorites slow-smoked right in our store, hand-rolled sushi, hand-tossed pizza, a sub shop where you’re the architect, where you can build from all your favorites as well as specialty creations that we put together ourselves,” Fischer said. “We’re going to have a kitchen with chef-prepared meals-to-go, which is self-served and prepackaged.”
Ordering kiosks will be spread throughout the store, where customers can enter their requests, shop, and pick up their meals on the way out.
The store will have an in-house dietician to provide free store tours, community events, presentations in and outside the store, cooking events and classes for associates and customers.
Fischer said that many departments will feature special experts that can assist customers with the preparation of their food.
“We’re also going to have a produce butcher, which is a new term,” Fischer said. “Does anybody in the audience like butternut squash? I like butternut squash, I hate cutting butternut squash, because I think it’s the worst thing you can possibly cut. No problem: when the all new ShopRite of Stroudsburg opens, bring it to our produce butcher and they’ll cut it for you, along with any other fresh produce item in the department.”
Seafood, meat and produce departments will bring an “elevated experience,” with “experts, butchers, fishmongers, [and] produce butchers.” Prepared options will also be available in these departments, Fischer said.
A beer and wine store will help to provide one-stop shopping, and the new Bin 37 restaurant will offer 18 beers on tap, service kiosks and room rentals for parties and special events.
“It’s a full service bar and restaurant, right here in the mall,” Fischer said. “If you want to meet up with friends or family and you want to come out to eat, you can do that and grab a cocktail here at the Stroud Mall.”
ShopRite From Home will also be available, so customers can place an order, stop by Bin 37 for dinner and pick up their food on the way out.
Carol Price, administrative assistant for Village Super Market, has been part of the team since ShopRite opened in Stroudsburg nearly 40 years ago, but she can’t wait to see the new location and all it has to offer.
“This is exciting,” Price said. We’ve been waiting for a new store for a long time. We kind of outgrew that store. It’s amazing; it truly is going to be a shopping experience, for sure.”
Plans are still on schedule to open the doors to the new ShopRite of Stroudsburg in November 2019.
“We can’t wait to get started in the fall and bring you the supermarket of your dreams,” Blatt said.
