Opening Date For Wyckoff ShopRite Set

WYCKOFF, NJ — The much-anticipated ShopRite store will open at 7 a.m. Sunday.

Chefs, bakers, butchers, and others from Inserra Supermarkets, the company that owns ShopRite, will provide attendees with samples of food made and sold at the Greenwood Avenue store.

A local 5-year-old resident will be the store's first customer.

Local officials and community leaders, including Rep. Josh Gottheimer, will attend the opening.

Construction of the 62,000-square-foot store began in April.Township resident Barry Houldsworth used a drone to film the store being constructed and created a time-lapsed of the process. (See related: ShopRite Wyckoff Store 'Almost Ready' To Open [Video])

The store will feature locally-sourced produce and a health and wellness department with a registered dietitian.

The store will feature several energy-saving measures, including energy-efficient refrigeration and lighting.

The opening comes years after the Mahwah-based Inserra Supermarkets battled with competitor Stop & Shop in court.

Stop & Shop contended that the Wyckoff Planning Board did not have jurisdiction to consider ShopRite's 2010 application because a "supermarket" was not a permitted use in the zone where ShopRite is being built.

ShopRite's application before the Wyckoff Planning Board dates back to 2010 when the first of what would eventually be 38 hearings on the application was held over two years.

The board unanimously approved the application in February 2013, which kicked off the legal battle and series of appeals by Stop & Shop.

The case eventually made its way to the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division where a three-judge panel eventually ruled in favor of ShopRite.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Patch file photo