Royal Farms, Aldi Grand Openings In Brick

BRICK, NJ — In fairy tales, the stroke of midnight turns carriages into pumpkins and dreams into dust.

But when the clock struck midnight Wednesday, a dream that's tantalized Brick resindents became real: Royal Farms is set to open the doors to its Brick Township store on Thursday.

It's one of two grand openings in the township that are scheduled for Thursday. Aldi has its grand opening at its new Route 70 location set for Thursday as well.

A number of residents have been eagerly awaiting the Royal Farms opening since it was approved for construction at the site of the former Jersey Paddler, at the intersection of Route 70 and Route 88 west, in 2018. But several delays that the company never explained had people doubting it would ever open.

A Royal Farms spokesperson provided only scant details on what the grand opening will entail, except to say the store is opening at midnight and will be open 24 hours a day.

"We are pleased to announce we will be opening officially on December 8th, 2022," the spokesperson said. "We will be giving away some free coupons to the first customers who arrive at the store as well as mini toy chickens!"

"Once we are open for a week or so we are going to invite Firefighters and Police to get a free 2 piece meal," she said. She did not specify what time the store is opening Thursday.

The company received approval for its plan to build the store at 1756 Route 88, on the former Jersey Paddler property, from the Brick zoning board in September 2018.

Construction, which was hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, appeared to have been completed in late 2021.

Aldi, meanwhile, is moving from its site on Van Zile Road to the Route 70 property where Foodtown once stood. The Van Zile store closed Sunday, a store representative said.

The new store will open at 8 a.m. Thursday, and will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"We are always looking out for the needs of our shoppers, and decided to move our Brick store to allow more room for added fresh, high-quality products at affordable prices, which our loyal shoppers know and love," said Bob Grammer, Center Valley regional vice president for ALDI.

It will be the first active retail sales activity at the site in more than 20 years. By the time Brick Township bought the property in 2003 to prevent construction of a home improvement store, Foodtown had been long closed.

The former Foodtown was demolished in 2009, and the property was in limbo until 2014, when the township sought to void the redevelopment agreement with M&M Realty Partners. Previous coverage: Sportsplex Coming To Brick Foodtown Site At Last

The town and M&M reached a settlement in 2017, and the plan to turn it into a sports complex and retail site was announced soon after. It received approval from the state Department of Transportation in September 2017, and the Brick Township Planning Board approved the site plan in May 2019. The remainder of the permitting process has taken two years and was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The sportsdome portion of the site is under construction and is anticipated to include a 68,400-square-foot domed facility with sports fields inside, a 27,600-square-foot basketball center, a 13,440-square-foot two-story building that will include offices and other facilities, and a pair of outdoor beach volleyball courts.

The retail portion of the site, owned by M&M Realty, includes the Aldi, along with a pad for a 4,300-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through and another retail building.

There will be 388 parking spaces total on the site.

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