SHOPRITE UNIT PARTS WALL TO CREATE STORE FOR PASSOVER

CAROL ANGRISANI

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- ShopRite here has opened a semi-attached kosher superstore for the Passover season.

The 5,000-square-foot store features about 1,000 grocery products, which are displayed in pallets and dump bins.

The store was originally planned to be used for a separate retail outlet, possibly a Radio Shack, according to a source familiar with the program. When it remained unused, ShopRite, a member of the Wakefern Corp., Elizabeth, N.J., decided to lease it throughout the Jewish holiday. A passageway connects the department to the main store. There is no other entrance.

The source said the section will not be used for kosher products once the holiday has ended. It is unclear whether Wakefern will continue using it for other types of products thereafter. Store officials referred SN to Wakefern Corp., which did not return phone calls. Banners reading "ShopRite's Passover Store" are located on the store's outdoor sign, on exterior windows and throughout the interior of the department. Also, ethnic music played during SN's visit, and a religous banner was hung inside the store.

A variety of products -- salty snacks, beverages, jellies, matzoh, desserts, spices, candy, condiments and baking needs -- fill the annex.

Other selections include Haddar salad dressing, which retails for 99 cents for an 8-ounce bottle; Streit's pickles, $2.99 for a 33-ounce jar; Mrs. Adler's apple juice, $1.39 for a 64-ounce

64-ounce jar; Joyva candies in 9-ounce packages, $3 for two packs; Rokeach macaroons, $2.99 for a 10-ounce box; Adler's gefilte fish, $5.99; Adler's cooking sauce, two for $3; Rubenstein red salmon, $1.97; and Kedem grape juice for 89 cents.

Several different private-label products are also offered, including ShopRite lemon juice and tuna. ShopRite's newspaper advertisment for the week of March 23 offered a 5-pound box of matzoh -- from Aviv, Rishon, Yehuda, Horowitz, Goodmans, Streits or Manischewitz -- free with an additional $50 purchase.