Photo by Justin McGown.
Tom Cingari Jr. is not worried about the arrival of Wegmans’ first Connecticut store just a stone’s throw away from his family’s ShopRite location along the busy Route 1 corridor in Norwalk.
“We encourage competition because it only sharpens our pencil and makes us better,” Cingari said.
The Norwalk ShopRite location is nearing completion on a series of major renovations that Cingari believed will elevate the shopping experience and provide new offerings that can both solidify the existing customer base and attract new patrons.
Cingari is both a member of the family, which operates Grade A Market, a chain of 11 supermarkets that are part of the Wakefern Cooperative, and the supervisor for the produce, floral and ecommerce departments. He emphasized that while the Norwalk location is ready for Wegmans, the decision to undergo a storewide refresh of branding and equipment was not made in reaction to moves made by competitors.
“We have been planning this renovation for probably close to three years,” Cingari said. “We started brainstorming for this store just before Covid. Obviously Covid put a little bit of a halt on some things, so it took a little longer than we were expecting. But we’re in full swing here ”” we’re probably 50% to 60% done with it currently, and the next 40% will be completed hopefully within the next three to four months.”
The renovations will yield a modest increase to the overall footprint of the store, some improved traffic flows and brand-new lighting and signage throughout the store. Specific upgrades also include enclosed refrigeration for the dairy section to improve energy efficiency and a new section at the front of the store designed to make it easy for customers using online ordering to pick up their goods.
New service counters will also be added to expand the location’s offerings. Specialty cheeses, dry aged beef and fresh-cut fruit will be added alongside the familiar seafood and deli offerings.
“It will definitely be more of a calmer experience,” Cingari said of the new look the renovations will give the store. “Better lighting, more wood grain and earth tones. And we’re really expanding a lot of the things that we already do really great. Everything from our scratch-made bakery to more prepared items. “
“We understand that there is a whole customer base out there that may not have a thought in their head when they walk in the store but know that they want to cook,” he added. “So, we want to have near the front everything from a seasoned piece of meat with a dry rub or marinade that’s ready to throw on the grill, or a piece of seafood that they may not have walked in thinking about but they leave with salmon.”
Cingari also noted a handful of new team members will be added to operate the new specialty counters, and he is currently seeking experts in cheeses and dry aged beef for the expansion.
Cingari is proud of the already-completed renovations, which he said will be more than enough to compete with Wegmans and the other stores in the area.
“It’s going to make us an even better operator than we already are.”
