Wegmans could be coming to another N.J. town

A spokeswoman for the supermarket chain said the proposed location be on Route 35 in Middletown.

MIDDLETOWN - A popular supermarket chain could soon be coming to a proposed shopping center on Route 35.

Wegmans spokeswoman Valerie Fox confirmed to NJ Advance Media that the Rochester, New York-based company plans to open its third Monmouth County location at the corner of Route 35 and Kings Highway.

National Realty & Development Corp., which is seeking approval from the township to construct The Shoppes at Middletown at that location, says the 340,000-square-foot town center will be anchored by Wegmans and CMX Cinema, a boutique dine-in theater.

The developer says the proposed town center would also include "a unique blend of specialty retail and restaurants with outdoor cafe space."

Fox said the Middletown location "met everything (Wegmans) looks for in a site," because it was large enough to accommodate a store the size of Wegmans, could have adequate parking, it is easy to find and easy to get to, and is also in an area with a high population density.

"We only open three of four stores each year, so we are very choosy when deciding where those stores are going to be located," she said.

There are currently seven existing stores in New Jersey, including locations in Ocean Township and Manalapan, and two other locations - a 113,00-square-foot store in Hanover and a 108,00-square-foot store in Montvale - are scheduled to open in the coming months.

The Hanover and Montvale stores will both employee approximately 500 workers, which will be a mixture of full-time and part-time positions, Fox said.

While National Realty & Development Corp. is promoting that the new town center is scheduled to open in 2019, the project is still awaiting approval from the township.

Therefore, Fox said it too soon for Wegmans to project a potential opening date for the new location.