Costco Wholesale keeps seniors guessing as warehouses adjust to panic shopping

SOCIAL DISTANCING: The Costco Wholesale warehouse in Teterboro, N.J., makes checking out during the Covid-19 pandemic easy by having an employee send members -- who form a single line -- to a usually empty checkout lane. I was next when I took this photo on April 21.

GUESSING GAME: But Costco keeps older members guessing by changing the hours for ages 60 and above at least 3 times in the last month or so. Now, those hours in Teterboro are 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays, forcing older members to show up an hour earlier than before.

Older members must deal  

with 3 changes in special hours

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A couple of days ago, I showed up at my Costco in Teterboro at around 9:30 in the morning to find no line of members outside the warehouse.

Inside, I found paper towels, toilet paper and spring water -- all of which were running low during our quarantine.

A week earlier, there were no paper towels to be had after a long line of members were allowed into the warehouse starting at 8 a.m., and sacked the place, as often happens at Costco warehouses and other food stores during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I wasn't aware that Costco Wholesale had revised opening hours for the Teterboro warehouse, as well as the special hour reserved for members ages 60 and over.

New hours

Now, older members are allowed in from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays -- an hour earlier than before, and the third time the special hour has been changed at the Teterboro warehouse, which opens to all members at 9 a.m.

But the Costco warehouse in Wayne -- known for its house-label imported and domestic wines, as well as premium brands of liquor -- doesn't open for seniors until 9 a.m. and for others until 10 a.m.

On May 4, the Costco Business Center in Hackensack closed to walk-in business so I can no longer go there from my home a couple of miles away, if I run out of an item.

You can find "Coronavirus Updates" on the website of your Costco warehouse.

Whole Foods Market in Paramus also reserves 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. for 60-plus shoppers.

Warehouse clubs

Costco is a multi-billion dollar global retailer with more warehouse club locations than either of its competitors, Sam's Club (owned by Walmart) and B.J.'s Wholesale Club.

In January 2018, Walmart announced the closing of 63 Sam's Clubs across the United States, including one in Fairbanks, Alaska.

A Costco Wholesale opened for business in the same building in November 2018, a few months after the Sam's Club closed.

In New Jersey

I am a loyal Costco shopper for many reasons, including an 18-inch food court pizza for $9.95, an increasing number of organic foods and produce; fresh wild-caught fish and a pharmacy.

I shop for food at Whole Foods and ShopRite, too, but Costco's prices are lower, and often there are sales or instant savings taken at the register on many items.

Costco Travel can save you money on tours, flights, hotel rooms and rental cars. 

Costco also has an auto buying and discount service program; and sells insurance and home improvements.

Free membership

Best of all, a Costco membership basically is free, if you use the Costco no-fee Visa credit card, earning 4% cash back on gasoline purchases (even at Costco), 3% on restaurant meals, 2% on travel and 1% on all other purchases. 

I have an Executive Membership for $120 a year, but earn 2 times or 3 times that much in cash back every year. A regular membership is $60 a year.

Grocers give preference to older shoppers, but not all are ready for the early business

PROTECTING EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS: At the Whole Foods Market in Paramus this morning, employees arriving for work had to stop to have their temperature checked, one of the measures put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  

NO LONGER A GATHERING PLACE: The seating area where the mandatory temperature checks are made once was filled with shoppers stopping for coffee or eating lunch from the prepared food buffets. Regulars included groups of elderly Korean-American men brought to the store in small buses from senior citizen centers.

Editor's note: This post has been edited to add material about the reopening of the Korean  supermarket in Ridgefield known as H Mart,  and one-way aisles at the ShopRite in Paramus. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Did you hear about the Whole Foods Market near Jupiter, Fla., where customers 60 years old and older are the only ones allowed to shop in the first hour the natural and organic food store is open?

After 9 a.m., the supermarket is empty -- given how few young people live in nearby retirement communities.

In New Jersey, however, there are plenty of younger customers at the Whole Foods in Paramus, where I shopped this morning starting at around 8:30 a.m.,during the hour devoted to older Americans.

A week ago, I waited on a long line of other shoppers like me who are 60 years old or older and who had been waiting -- 6 feet apart -- for the 8 a.m. store opening. 

Today, around 8:30, I just showed my I.D. to the employee outside the front doors, and walked in to get a cart and sanitary wipes.

Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, ShopRite supermarkets and the Korean supermarket chain known as H Mart also are giving preference to older shoppers in their first hour of business.

At the Costco Business Center in Hackensack, "senior hours" are 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Costco and other food stores also have changed their policies on returns, and most won't be accepting them during the pandemic.

The Paramus ShopRite's special hours for older Americans are 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. That sounds more like punishment than accommodation.

H Mart reopens

But I haven't seen any other supermarket outside of Whole Foods that checks the temperature of employees as soon as they walk in the front door.

On April 4, the large Korean supermarket known as H Mart in Ridgefield closed temporarily for cleaning and restocking after an employee came down with a "suspected" case of the coronavirus, according to a notice on the front door I saw last Sunday.

After the store reopened on April 16, only customers 60 years and older were given priority in the first 30 minutes the store is open.

Previously, shoppers "with disabilities, compromised immune systems and expectant mothers," as well as customers who are 60+, were able to shop by themselves in the first hour.

Signs of trouble

Today, as with my shopping trip to Whole Foods on a week earlier, I found missing or inaccurate price signs in produce and fresh seafood.

Besides apples, sweet potatoes and parsley -- all organic -- I picked up mangoes, clementines and a few pounds of boneless pork loin chops after I saw the chops were on sale for $5.99 a pound (normally $8.99 a pound).

But when I checked my receipt, I saw I wasn't given the discount for the chops or the extra 10% off for Amazon Prime Members.

I had to hunt down a customer service employee (no one was at the customer service desk). She took my receipt and went to the butcher section in the rear of the store, then returned to give me a credit of $15.59, including 1 pound free and my extra 10% Prime discount.

SAFETY BARRIER: Today, I saw large plexiglass barriers put up to separate the cashier from the customer at Whole Foods Market. Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and the Costco Business Center in Hackensack had similar barriers in place at the end of March. Another benefit is that Whole Foods customers no longer have to self-scan their Prime Member code on their smartphones, which was a ify proposition, because the new barrier blocks the scanner.

SOCIAL DISTANCING: This customer had a shopping cart full of produce and other items and packed them all by himself. But at Whole Foods, Costco and ShopRite, social distancing or keeping 6 feet away from other customers is difficult because of narrow aisles and shoppers who barge through store intersections with full shopping carts. Customers of the Paramus ShopRite largely ignore one-way aisles.

TODAY AT 9:20 A.M.: When I drove away from Whole Foods Market, I paused to look at the younger shoppers waiting on line to get into the store.

Covid-19 pandemic: Line up at food stores, eat too much, but repairmen come to me

PERSONAL PROTECTION: Just after 8 a.m. today, I found wipes and gloves inside the entrance to Whole Foods Market in Paramus. Since March 18, only shoppers 60 years old and older have been allowed into the supermarket between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. -- special hours for an "at-risk population," the natural-and-organic-foods company says.

MUST SHOW ID: As I was leaving the store a half-hour later, another 60+ shopper showed his identification -- a requirement -- to the Whole Foods employee at the entrance. Below, you have to read the sign carefully to learn the store hours haven't changed -- they're still 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., if you're 60 years old or older.

ORGANIC PRODUCE: On my shopping trip this morning, I found a good selection of organic produce, including apples, sweet potatoes, arugula and parsley, but no store brand of organic spaghetti or other long pasta. And there were no Prime Member Deals available in the butcher section with beef, pork and other meat.

N.J. governor orders all residents

to wear masks in grocery stores

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I'm doing less food shopping, but standing on lines a lot more, as supermarkets regulate the number of people allowed inside.

I'm cooking and eating more, but we still haven't ordered takeout or delivery from our favorite restaurants in or near Hackensack.

Since the Friday the 13th declaration of a national emergency to fight the coronavirus epidemic in March, our lives have become more sedentary, and that has led to weight gain, boredom and sleep disruptions.

But we're eating well, and trying to buy as much organic and non-GMO food as possible.

I shopped at Whole Foods Market in Paramus this morning, and later in the day Governor Murphy signed an executive order requiring all residents to wear masks in grocery stores "to try to decrease the spread of coronavirus in some of the only businesses that remain open," according to a news account.

Shortages

I've encountered lines and shortages at Costco Wholesale warehouses in Hackensack and Teterboro; Whole Foods and ShopRite -- the places where we spend most of our food dollars.

And do we spend: 

Our family of four has 3 meat eaters and 1 pescatarian (me). 

We often prepare two breakfasts and dinners -- one for my wife, son and mother-in-law, all of whom eat beef, pork and poultry; and a second one for me.

I favor wild-caught seafood, egg-white omelets stuffed with smoked salmon and spinach; big salads, organic pasta and produce, organic quinoa and reduced-fat cheese. I haven't eaten poultry, beef or lamb since 2010.

Victor's Healthy Kitchen

About 2 years ago, I began posting cooking videos at Victor's Healthy Kitchen on YouTube that reflect my love for healthy food, and I continue to do so.

Lately, the videos have shown the disruptions in daily life caused by the pandemic -- all a reminder of the many deaths in nearby hospitals, including the one where I served as a volunteer for 8 years before the program was suspended about a month ago.

See: Victor's Healthy Kitchen

I started writing about food in 1999, when I worked at The Record of Hackensack, and continued to do so after I left the newspaper, launching a food blog in 2009 to explore the evils of factory farms, harmful antibiotics in farm animals, and the widespread use of cancer-causing pesticides on produce.

See: Do You Really Know What You're Eating?

Lines everywhere

On Monday afternoon, I drove to the Costco Warehouse in Teterboro, and found other members lined up single file with shopping carts, and eventually, employees outside herded us into 4 lines.

The wait to get into the warehouse was only about 15 minutes, but I found shortages.

A Costco employee wiped down my shopping cart handle as I joined the line, and inside the store, masked and gloved employees at registers and exits were separated from shoppers by plexiglass, and social distancing signs were everywhere.

I was able to find fresh wild-caught Mahi-Mahi from Ecuador, and a 1-pound package of organic spinach, but there was no Organic Spring Mix from Earthbound Farm.

I used the Mahi-Mahi the next day prepare a large pot of Butterfly Pasta with 4 Fishes that all of us ate for dinner.

THE ZISAS: Hackensack High School teacher Anthony Zisa, left, and his father, Ken, the disgraced former Hackensack police chief and Democratic state assemblyman, waiting on line at the Costco Wholesale warehouse in Teterboro on March 31. Below, businesses in the Fairmount section of Hackensack have been closed temporarily by the pandemic.

MICROWAVE REPAIR: On Tuesday morning, a GE repairman came to our home to investigate a loud buzzing noise when the door of our 30-inch Advantium Microwave Oven is closed, and then ordered the parts to repair the appliance. He's due back to make the repair next week.

TESLA MOBILE SERVICE: Later Tuesday, an employee of Tesla Mobile Service came to our home to top up the windshield wiper fluid in my Model S, below, after a dashboard message alerted me the supply was low.

In Hackensack, a Costco with no crowds, spicy food warms us at Bangkok Garden

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

In the nearly two years since the old Costco Wholesale warehouse in Hackensack reopened, members have found an oasis of calm at what is now called a Business Center.

Another Costco member I know describes the reimagined Hackensack warehouse as a combined restaurant supply house and consumer store.

On Tuesday, I was out of organic spring mix -- which serves as my daily salad -- and organic spinach, and I had a 2-pound bag of organic coffee beans I wanted to grind for my daily brew at home.

When I bought the beans on sale at the Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, that warehouses' two coffee mills were busy.

So on Tuesday, I drove to the Costco Business Center, and parked in the uncrowded lot.

After grabbing a shopping cart and showing my membership card at the door, I headed for an enormous cold room in the back of the warehouse.

That's where shoppers find milk, eggs, OJ, yogurt and many other items they are familiar with from the busy Teterboro warehouse.

I picked up a 1-pound tub of organic spring mix and another of organic spinach (only $3.69 each), paid with the Costco Visa credit card -- which is also a cash rebate card -- and took my coffee beans for a Turkish grind in the mill, which has been moved into a corner of the Costco food court.

No fuss, no muss. See video on brewing coffee at home, below:

SOME LIKE IT HOT: On a chilly and rainy Saturday, me and my wife warmed up with a few spicy dishes at Bangkok Garden Thai Restaurant, 261 Main St., Hackensack. Our main dish was called Pla Nung, a steamed whole striped bass ($26.95). But instead of the Thai brown bean sauce topping, we asked for a chili pepper-garlic sauce on the side.

ON A SCALE FROM 1 TO 10: As with the chili-garlic sauce we got with our fish, the server asked us how hot we wanted the dressing on the Som Tam Malakaw ($8.95) or crunchy Green Papaya Salad on a scale of 1 to 10. When I asked for 5, she cautioned me, so I revised that down to 3, and that was plenty hot for us.

SWEET & SPICY: We also shared an appetizer of Tod Mun Pla or Fish Cakes ($6.95) served with a Thai sweet and spicy chili sauce and ground peanuts. The menu says the chewy, deep fried  cakes are made with minced "fresh water fish." My wife also had a bowl of Thai Wonton Soup ($4.50 for small), made with chicken, not pork.

See: Our May 2017 visit to Bangkok Garden

Details

Bangkok Garden Thai Restaurant, 261 Main St., Hackensack; 201-487-2620. 

Open 7 days, liquor license, metered parking on street or in rear lot (25 cents for 30 minutes).

Website:

A Beautiful Setting for Thai Food

Food shopping: A few good buys at Costco, Whole Foods Market, ShopRite + H Mart

These hothouse-grown Cluster Tomatoes at the Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and the Costco Business Center in Hackensack are from Sunset, and they are sized between the Campari Tomato and the Beefsteak Tomato. A 4-pound box was $5.59 or about $1.40 a pound. I used them in sandwiches and cooking, but for maximum tomato flavor, stick to the pricier Campari Tomato.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Amazon's bid to cut prices and make its Whole Foods Market subsidiary more attractive to budget-conscious food shoppers got off to a slow start.

Last week, though, I was able to pick up organic table grapes, organic carrots, sparkling water and grass-fed leg of lamb from Iceland at great prices.

The butterflied leg of lamb ($7.99 a pound) was from free-range sheep that have been raised on the big North Atlantic island since the year 878.

Whole Foods also is the only supermarket to give you a credit (10 cents) for bringing a reusable bag.

And you can keep up with sales and coupons by downloading the Whole Foods app to your smart phone.

My Whole Foods purchases supplemented others from Costco Wholesale, ShopRite and H Mart in Little Ferry, the three places where we spend most of our food dollars.

Second Nature-brand Naked Medley - GMO-free raisins, whole almonds and cashews with no salt or added oils -- was $7.99 after an instant coupon at the Costco Business Center, 80 S. River St. in Hackensack. That's about 50 cents for each 1.5-ounce bag. The regular price is $9.99.

Organic red or green seedless table grapes were on sale for $1.69 a pound at the Whole Foods Market in Bergen Town Center, Paramus. A-5-pound bag of Organic Carrots was $3.99.

A pack of a dozen 12-ounce cans of 365 Everyday Value Sparkling Water with natural lemon, grapefruit and other flavors was $3 at the Whole Foods in Paramus.

A 2-pound bag of Organic Blue Mussels from Canada was on sale for $4.99 at ShopRite, Forest Avenue and Route 4 in Paramus.

Large Golden Pineapples were on sale at the Paramus ShopRite for $1.99 each last Thursday, and the sale continued today, when I picked up two.

But the Paramus ShopRite was out of 3-pound bags of sweet potatoes last Thursday, so I paid $1.99 a pound for 2 pounds of what were labeled "sweet potatoes" at the Englewood farmers market on Friday. They were twice the price of the ShopRite sweet potatoes and not as sweet after I boiled them with garlic cloves and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings.

Fresh whole, wild-caught Porgy were $2.99 a pound at H Mart, the Korean supermarket at 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry.

Food shopping: Your melon needs a belt, salmon bounty, veggie burgers, fish balls

Costco Wholesale in Teterboro was offering several brands of seedless watermelons last week, including one that urged shoppers to "protect your melon" and "buckle up," above. The label also shows a body with a melon head wearing a seat belt.

Yum-Yum! was another brand sold at the Costco warehouse store off of Route 46 in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

We're at the height of the season for fresh wild salmon, sugar-sweet seedless watermelons, Jersey peaches, plump blueberries and other great "summer foods."

Unfortunately, no single warehouse store or supermarket can satisfy my family's need for them and offer great prices, too.

So, me and my wife continue to make the rounds at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro and Costco's Business Center in Hackensack; H Marts in Little Ferry, Englewood and Ridgefield; H & Y in Ridgefield, part of another Korean supermarket chain; and ShopRites in Paramus, Englewood and Hackensack.

When I posted this, I also should have mentioned our occasional visits to Whole Foods Market in Paramus for naturally raised meat and wild-caught Gulf Shrimp, as well as moderately priced organic whole wheat pasta, salsas, sauces and beans sold under the 365 Everyday Value label.

I also go to Trader Joe's for good deals on juices and organic sweet potatoes, and uncured, antibiotic-free bacon and hot dogs for the meat eaters in the family.

If nothing else, going food shopping several times a week is good exercise.

NYT Cooking

I've been looking over lots of recipes during a trial subscription to NYT Cooking, but won't be paying to continue.

Sam Sifton, the ebullient editor, doesn't offer much to a senior citizen like me who is watching his cholesterol and weight, and who doesn't eat meat or poultry.

Here we are at the height of the fresh wild salmon season, and I haven't seen a Times recipe for sockeye or any other fish.

Sifton, Melissa Clark and other Times staffers eat lots of chicken, beef and bacon -- without a cautionary note on poultry and meat raised on harmful human antibiotics and growth hormones.

MORE FOR LESS: A bounty of fresh wild salmon means I can buy a bigger fillet at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro. Here, I prepared a reduction of organic diced tomatoes, shallots, garlic, red wine and seasonings, and served the grilled salmon with fresh herbs from my garden and a homemade tzatziki or yogurt sauce (non-fat Greek yogurt, grated cucumbers, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice).

$5 PER PERSON: At $9.99 a pound, a Sockeye Salmon fillet of about 2 pounds yielded eight serving pieces (two for each member of my family) for about $5 per person.

ORGANIC VEGGIE BURGERS: A 3-pound, 12-burger package of Dr. Preager's Organic Harvest Veggie Burgers, made with organic chickpeas, quinoa and vegetables (normally $14.49), was on sale for $10.99 with an instant coupon at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

GO FISH: Fish balls made with fillets, shrimp and tofu are sold frozen at the H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry, for $5.99 a pound (and on Sunday, you can try a free sample near the fresh fish counter). I prepared a broth of organic chicken stock, red wine, water sake, sesame oil and seasonings, and added a large bunch of mustard greens, chopped and washed, in the last few minutes of cooking.

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA: Though not organic, Barilla 100% Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti and 100% Whole Wheat Linguine are on sale for 99 cents (1-pound box) at the Little Ferry H Mart until the end of the year. I also found a 3-pound package of Japanese-style soba or buckwheat noodles made by Danya in Korea on sale for $4.99.

SWEET MEXICAN MANGOES: I've been buying a box of Ataulfo or Champagne Mangoes from Mexico every Sunday at H Mart in Little Ferry. These wonderfully sweet mangoes have grown in size and price. Now, you get 16 mangoes for $12.99.

 SHOPRITE SEARCH: I'm searching for a ShopRite to replace the disorganized store in Paramus, where I've been stopping on the way home from the gym two or three days a week. Today, I went to the Hackesnack ShopRite, above, and couldn't find much. The store carries yams, but not sweet potatoes, and didn't have any Jersey peaches. Other produce was priced higher than I'm used to from the Paramus ShopRite and Little Ferry H Mart.

NATURAL COLD CUTS: At the Hackensack ShopRite, I did find Black Bear-brand Smoked Ham and Herbed Turkey Breast, both raised without antibiotics, at $4.49 for a 7-ounce package, right.

FOR GARLIC LOVERS: We've been buying 3-pound pouches of peeled Christopher Ranch California Garlic from Teterboro Costco ($8.99), but the cloves sometimes get moldy before the "best by" date. Today, I boiled 3 pounds of yams and lots of garlic cloves from a new bag, then drained and mashed them with extra-virgin olive oil, adding cinnamon, curry powder, red-pepper flakes, black pepper and other seasonings.

Two other brands of seedless watermelon sold at the Teterboro Costco, above and below. The melon grown in Maryland or Delaware invites shoppers to "experience the local flavor," above.

Food shopping: Rotten fruit from Costco Wholesale, Can't Can't Sale at ShopRite

A display of Victoria Pasta Sauce was mislabeled as Silver Palate Pasta Sauce this week during the Summer Can Can Sale at ShopRite, Forest Avenue and Route 4 east in Paramus, above.

A couple of days later the correct sign showed a 24-ounce jar of Victoria Marinara still wasn't a bargain at $2.99.

ENGLEWOOD SHOPRITE 

EXPANSION DRAGS ON

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

If you missed seeing the trays of large California peaches that started appearing at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro in June, there's a good chance you were attracted by their fragrance.

We made sure to buy a tray of 11 peaches weekly, and if we didn't eat them out of hand, they were terrific grilled and served with Costco's fresh wild sockeye salmon fillets.

But the 5-pound tray of white-flesh peaches ($10.99) we brought home on July 6 from the warehouse in the Teterboro Landing Shopping Center started rotting almost immediately, attracting fruit flies.

Meanwhile, instead of ripening on the counter, a 3-pound tray of large apricots ($6.49) from the Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack also rotted.

We were able to return peaches and apricots for a full refund, but I didn't bother going back to the ShopRite in Paramus after a couple of the small California peaches I bought there got moldy instead of ripened.

Was all that bad fruit stored improperly?

Summer Can Can Sale

Never have so many food shoppers searched in vain for bargains as they have at recent Can Can promotions, and the Summer Can Can Sale going on now at ShopRite Supermarkets is no exception.

In fact, every Can Can Sale seems to have fewer deep discounts than its predecessor, as if manufacturers are saying, We Can't Can't subsidize the promotion any longer.

Summer foods plus cash back from Costco

Overcooked fish at Seafood Gourmet

Adirondack has changed the design of its 12-can packages of Lemon Lime Seltzer and other flavors, but they weren't on sale for $1.99, as they have been in the past during Can Can Sales at ShopRites in Paramus and Englewood.

A Summer Can Can special at the Paramus and Englewood ShopRites are large cans of Dole 100% Pineapple Juice from concentrate for $1.88 each, above. But the Costco Business Center at 80 South River St. in Hackensack has an instant coupon good through today for three cans of Dole 100% Pineapple Juice -- not from concentrate -- for $1.36 each. Both are non-GMO and come in BPA-free cans.

Cans of Glade air freshener were 93 cents each with ShopRite's Price Plus loyalty card.

Two-liter tins of Botticelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil for $9.99 are marked "Imported from Italy," but most of them contain oil from Tunisia, Spain and Greece, as marked near the spout, below.

Although not part of the Summer Can Can promotion, New Jersey peaches were selling for $1.69 a pound at the Paramus ShopRite this week or 20 cents a pound more than Tree Ripe-brand peaches from California.

At the Paramus ShopRite on Thursday, I wasn't willing to pay $2.99 for a jar of Victoria Marinara, but did pay $2.99 for Victoria Low Sodium Marinara, left, which has 120 milligrams of sodium in each half cup (5% of the recommended daily maximum), compared to 420 milligrams in a half cup of the regular Victoria Marinara (18% of the recommended maximum). Victoria Marinara also is among the few bottled sauces with no added sugar.

The expansion and renovation of the ShopRite at 40 Nathaniel Place in Englewood is far from complete, as I discovered on Friday, when I went there to see if the store had Summer Can Can Sale promotions not available in Paramus. None were to be found.

If you didn't know better, you'd think the store had been hit by a storm or that you had been transported to the third world, above and below.