February 10, 2014

Shop-Rite Supermarket | West Caldwell, New Jersey

The West Caldwell ShopRite Is Special

The ShopRite supermarket in West Caldwell, New Jersey is unique.

First of all, it must be an old ShopRite, because it still has the hyphen in the name.

That is why I included the hyphen in the title of this post, even though the hyphen is not used anymore.

According to a January 31st article in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

In American advertising lingo, rite makes mite. Or maybe might. The ShopRite grocery chain is the first rite I can remember. ShopRite is a postwar neologism; for a while in the fifties and sixties, the name was spelled with a hyphen (Shop-Rite), after which the logo lost its hyphen but kept the internal cap.

I am always interested in design and architecture.

Whoever built or designed this ShopRite made it with a Japanese design.

I've been told that the owner at the time really liked this decor style.

Not only does the front of the store have an Japanese theme, but it even has endearing matching phone booths!

~~One of the phone booths still has a working phone.~~

Even on the inside, the Japanese design theme continues.

I blatantly took pictures with my camera on the outside, but I don’t think I’m supposed to take photos inside the store, ~~so I sneaked around the store taking~~ took the last two photos with my crappy old cell phone.

UPDATE 2022: There have supposedly been plans for a bigger ShopRite and to tear this one down, according to this 2021 article from JerseyDigs.

The Market Report gives a 2021 TOUR of this particular store.

You may want to read my post about The Buzz Aldrin Rock, another offbeat place.

Thanks for visiting New Jersey Memories!

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Shop-Rite Supermarket | West Caldwell, New Jersey

February 10, 2014

April 03, 2012

Zenas Crane Homestead | West Caldwell, New Jersey

Zenas Crane House, West Caldwell, New Jersey

Zenas Crane Homestead

I took these photos in December at the Zenas Crane Homestead in West Caldwell, which is currently serving as the home of the town historical society.

The house is faithful to the furnishings of the period, right down to the chamber pots!