Pathmark of Millville

When I moved here in 1994, I could not find a grocery store to shop in. All were dirty, under-​supplied, and otherwise not up to par. The old Pathmark at the mall I walked out of after looking at their produce.
I welcomed this Pathmark a couple years later and shopped here weekly for a number of years. The employees were always helpful and friendly. Like all grocery stores, they shake up their aisles from time to time, but that was dealt with. They usually had a wide variety of each item I shopped for.
Things began to slip a few years ago. Acme opened up across the street. I am not a fan of Acme, even though I gave it a whirl at first. But when Shop Rite opened, it was a no brainer to leave. I usually find myself back at Pathmark at Christmastime looking for otherwise sold out items across the street. The store seems to be in decline. The once large varieties are gone. Lots of «bargains» populate the shelves. There also appears to be little staff available, although that could be more a function of the time I find myself there.
Anyhow, the store did not keep pace and seems to be in the downward spiral, as the rest of Cumberland Crossing appears to be.

Pathmark used to be a great place to shop for the weekly groceries.
It’s house brand was always a good value that didn’t disappoint in taste or usefulness if you wanted to save over the more expensive national brands. Their produce section was one of the best in any supermarket setting.
Competition at this site is fierce, with Walmart across the parking lot, Acme and ShopRite across the street. They were holding their own for a while…
Then corporate had some financial difficulties and the chain was sold to A&P, or at least the holding company that now owns the A&P brand and several other well-​known chains.
Corporate positioned the Pathmark brand at the bottom of their tier. All of their stores are now called «Value Centers», catering to steep discounts and «urban» (read minority) clientele.
That’s when the long, slow decline began.
The produce area, once abundant with a multitude variety of fresh fruits & vegetables, filling over 7 aisles, has shrunk to 4 aisles with very basic produce of middling quality. They’ve cut back in the bakery area too. The house brand looks generic and tastes that way, too. The deli section is still strong. I guess that’s a big profit maker in the food industry.
There are constant shortages and understocks of popular items and the general variety of things has shrunk. Where they once had many varieties of a certain foodstuff, they now have just a handful.
A lot of the old-​time staff have moved on to other places. To their credit, the current staff are generally very friendly and helpful.
I still shop there for most of my groceries because they still have great prices on a lot of things, but I often have to supplement what I buy at Pathmark with trips to other area stores who have what I need in stock.
If the decline continues, it may tip the balance in favor of the competition. I wish I could give it 2.5 stars instead of 3.