Super Foodtown in Ocean Township tries shrinking to fight Wegmans, Lidl, other rivals

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Super Foodtown plans to shrink its footprint here by as much as a third to try to ward off an increasing number of competitors, its chief executive officer said Wednesday.

The transition has led to empty store shelves, Lou Scaduto Jr. said, while it narrows its focus to provide produce, meat, seafood and customer service that it thinks can set it apart.

"It's going to be a much more heavily driven fresh food operation," Scaduto said. "And the center store, more traditional offerings—grocery, dairy, frozen—will all be reduced in size."

The store is one of five Super Foodtowns owned by Middletown-based Food Circus.

It is trying to find its place in a part of the region that has been a magnet not only for supermarkets such as Wegmans and Lidl, but also for big box stores like Walmart and Target that also sell food.

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Customers on Wednesday said they shopped here because it was more manageable than the bigger supermarkets. And they were drawn to the customer service and deli items.

But the increasingly bare shelves sparked no shortage of rumors, they said, from a potential new owner to problems with the warehouse.

"I'm still here until they don't have anything," said Jean Rant, of Ocean Township.

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Super Foodtown has been a staple in the Middlebrook Shopping Plaza since it took over a Grand Union supermarket here in 1979.

As part of its strategy, Super Foodtown plans to reduce its size from 68,000 square feet to about 48,000 square feet in a renovation that Scaduto said could take several weeks.

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The move isn't without risk. John Buzza, a management professor at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, said some customers no doubt will go elsewhere in search of a wider selection.

But a more focused approach could pay off, he said.

"It does make sense because people are shopping a lot quicker," Buzza said. "You don't need all the choices. It gets overwhelming."

The Super Foodtown overhaul isn't unique. Food Circus last year renovated its Red Bank store for the first time in 15 years with changes that included revamping its seafood department and hiring a pastry chef.

One common feature: The company is searching for ways to set itself apart from, say, ShopRite, Whole Foods, or online shopping.

"What type of differentiation is there in a box of Cheerios?" Scaduto said. "There's nothing unique about it." 

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy for 20 years. He can be reached at 732-643-4038 or @mdiamondapp. You can follow him on Twitter @mdiamondapp.