Those living in and around the heart of Atlantic County will soon have a new and inexpensive option for food shopping.

However, if you are expecting a traditional supermarket that's the size of a giant warehouse, you're in for a bit of a surprise.

In fact, this store, which is replacing a couple of old standard-sized clothing stores in a strip mall, calls itself "the nation’s largest extreme value retailer."

Extreme Values -- For Food?!

Within the past few days, banners announcing a new Grocery Outlet Bargain Market have gone up on a storefront in the Hamilton Commons Shopping Center on the Black Horse Pike in Mays Landing.

The food store will be taking over the spaces formerly occupied by Lane Bryant and Dress Barn/Annie Sez, right between Chuck E. Cheese and Ross, near the former Bed Bath & Beyond store.

A Look Inside

What's happening inside that space seems to be a tightly guarded secret as just about all of the windows are covered, however...

We were able to see that the old drop ceiling has been removed...

What to Expect

So what is Grocery Outlet? According to their website,

Grocery Outlet is one of the largest opportunistic buyers of grocery items in the country, and we sell name-brand items to customers for up to 60% off conventional grocery store retail prices.

From what we've been able to tell, it appears Grocery Outlet is a mixture between Aldi and Ollie's -- you can buy inexpensive food items at lower prices like Aldi, but their stock frequently changes as they buy lots of closeouts or discontinued items from manufacturers just like you'd find at Ollie's.

One example from a Mashed article from 2022 said it this way:

Per a self-identified Grocery Outlet employee on Quora, think of a scenario in which 'Coke makes way more Christmas themed cans than they have market for; many stores won't keep these perfectly good Cokes on their shelves in March but GO will take them at a very discounted rate and sell them to us for a marked down price.'

New Store in Cape May County

Within the past few weeks, Grocery Outlet opened a new store in Rio Grande, Cape May County, and it has received some rather good reviews:

Not a replacement for the likes of Shop Rite per se but rather an "adjunct" to such with more in common with Aldi and Save-A-Lot. You will definitely find a range of prices on everything that skewers from generally average to a 'real bargain' to behold. It's absolutely worth stopping in here as I have scored some fantastic deals incomparable to elsewhere and the friendly atmosphere as well as the tidy environment just serves as a catalyst to have me return ongoing.

Saw many good bargains, prices are actually very good. Everything from snacks, cereals, fruits, veggies to meats and dairy. Have all the ingredients to make your stews, salads, desserts. Workers were smiling (imagine that) and everything seems to be running pretty smooth. So give it a try next time your out.

A brand new store with tons of items to shop for. Not super cheap like they say but some things have good prices. The aisles are wide and its bright inside so you can see what is on shelves.

When Does it Open?

From what we can tell by peaking in the windows, there's still a lot of construction that needs to be done and the store appears to be several weeks away from opening. As best we can tell, an official grand opening date has not yet been announced.