‘World’s Largest’ ShopRite Supersizes a Mom-and-Pop

BRODHEADSVILLE, Pa. — How big is the new ShopRite here? At a preview event before the store’s Aug. 5 opening, Christopher Kinsley Sr., the store’s general manager and vice president, was still awaiting delivery of benches to provide shoppers places to sit down and rest as they make their way across the 95,000-square-foot store. On the positive side, the opening made room in Kinsley’s garage.

A 1926 Ford Model T was moved from Kinsley’s garage to the new store, where it takes its place among a variety of antiques and displays for which there were no longer space in the 53,000-square-foot unit that the new store replaced. The antiques signify the heritage of Kinsley’s Family Market, founded by Chris Kinsley’s grandfather Clayton Kinsley 62 years ago. Having plenty of space to display them testifies to the power of the ShopRite’s Wakefern Food Corp. cooperative and what it can mean to a single-store operator that knows its shoppers.

Kinsley Family Markets teamed with Wakefern 14 years ago and in time outgrew its former Brodheadsville location, located in a strip mall around the corner from its new site. The new store, which cost $26 million to build and took more than seven years to develop, is a kind of supersized local market combining the variety and services of a modern chain with the feel of a mom-and-pop grocer. Originally planned for around 70,000 square feet, plans grew several times in response to surveys indicating what shoppers would support, Kinsley said.

The building takes exterior design cues from the outdoor retailer Cabela’s, utilizing stone and thick wood beams. Inside the entryway, a sign declares WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST SHOPRITE.

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Inside, shoppers will find a vast array of fresh and prepared foods, specialty departments and new features, including a pick-up area for customers who use the ShopRite from Home Internet shopping service and a dedicated beer-to-go department. An upstairs lounge known as Doris’ Café is staffed by an executive chef and includes seating and tables overlooking the store as well as a modular couch around a fireplace and a flat-screen television. Doris is Christopher Kinsley’s mother; she and Robert Kinsley took over the business from Robert’s father Clayton in 1967. Their daughter, Dee Dee, still works for the company, as do Christopher’s two sons, Robert and Christopher Jr.

A variety of antiques including vintage food containers adorn the tops of shelves and share in a whimsical and sometimes kitschy presentation. A mounted cow’s head by the dairy department “moos” at the push of a button, and a chicken by the meat department clucks. A model train runs on tracks suspended above the checkout area, where lanes are designated by railroad crossing signals. The Model T sits atop a stage near the front of the store (Scrunchy, the ShopRite bear, sits in the driver’s seat). The car also serves as a design logo for Kinsley’s Family Market, which appears on aisle signs and at the store’s entrance along with the slogan “We serve the nicest people!”