Let's talk about Supremo Supermarket in The Heights.

Submitted by my_rationale t3_z73vxb in jerseycity

Supremo Supermarket is taking advantage of it's customers. Since moving The Heights in July of 2020 I have experienced prices ringing up higher at the register than advertised on the shelves. I have experienced this literally DOZENS of times now and I have witnessed it happening to other customers also. It has come to the point where I take pictures of products on the shelf so that I have photographic proof that I can show to the cashier when products ring up as more than advertised. Today THREE items rung up as $.30 more than advertised. Sometimes products ring up as a few DOLLARS more. Also, I have complained to multiple agencies in the city and state, and nothing has changed. Please spare me the comments about going somewhere else. I do the bulk of my shopping at places that I have to take a car or bus to because this Supremo is the only place within walking distance of my apartment. They are taking advantage of Jersey City citizens who have no other choice but to shop there. This is deceptive, irresponsible bait-and-switch pricing.

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burrito__supreme t1_iy4n7f1 wrote

i’d contact local news. with the economy going as it is i can’t imagine that this would be ignored by all of the local stations.

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arca650 t1_iy4ugx2 wrote

Horrendous grocery store. On top of the outrageous prices their produce and meat are never fresh and go bad quickly.

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214ObstructedReverie t1_iy5xum6 wrote

That's a shame. I used to live back there close to them like 10 years ago, and I recall their produce section being pretty solid.

The meat section was always shit.

Some things change, others stay the same.

The Heights needs better grocery stores. Stop and Shop is like 1/3 of the size it needs to be. I usually go up to Food Bazaar and ShopRite up JFK.

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mcar91 t1_iy6jzq4 wrote

Yeah their meat and produce is the worst! And for some reason, they never have zucchinis.

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aa043 t1_iy93q97 wrote

We buy zucchini regularly from all the markets in our area. To state that Supremo "never have zucchinis" is a false statement. Please retract your error.

One must shop selectively these days. Supremo has products from Americas that are not easy to find at larger supermarkets. We prefer Lima beans from Peru. C town on Bergen south of JSQ has an interesting selection of products from other countries including Middle East (many Christian Egyptians in this area of JC but also other ME people and probably some authentic food available nearby).

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mcar91 t1_iy94gcl wrote

I will correct to: “every time I’ve gone to Supremo in need of zucchini, they have not had any”

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drpuchala t1_iy4v5n6 wrote

It's a oversized Bodega, very expensive, many rats, old dusty products on shelves.

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idkinfo t1_iy4v9id wrote

Wow thanks for sharing I know the area has lots of seniors and people with out vehicles.

Call division of weights and measures for the city county and state. Make noise on Jersey city pages on fb or hummusjc Instagram.

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LittleMuppetGremlin t1_iy5ff8b wrote

We just moved to the area and immediately realized that the prices at Supremo are outrageous! I've walked in twice now to pick up a few small items and immediately walked out because there was no way in hell I'm paying $6.15 (pre-tax!) for Kerrygold butter. Definitely worth the extra walk to go to Stop & Shop on Central, instead. There's also a dope little Indian grocery store on Central (Fresh Central Grocery) that has reasonable prices, a great selection of international products, and very nice produce!

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aa043 t1_iy9befr wrote

>Fresh Central Grocery

A very convenient local store for Indian population using Pershing Field area where they can quickly buy items after a bit of fun (walking, running, baseball, swimming, volleyball, tennis, cricket, kids playground, etc.).

For thrifty shopping, the Little India area near JSQ is worth the walk. Around White Castle corner, at JFK and Newark, are many supermarkets: Apna Bazaar, Patel Bros, D-Mart, Big Bazaar; and also many other interesting places to spend time.

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_iy5rmr9 wrote

> I have experienced prices ringing up higher at the register than advertised on the shelves.

This is actually against the law in New Jersey. Perhaps a shout-out to the Attorney General might make some stuff happen.

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Conscious_Tone2063 t1_iy5r4v2 wrote

I absolutely hate Supremo. On top of the price discrepancy, they have only 2 or 3 cashiers available most of the time. I stopped shopping there a while ago. I hope they go out of business and/or a new management/grocery store will replace them.

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Equivalent_Ad2123 t1_iy68giy wrote

People here hate owning cars here but honestly once you settle in, accessible groceries do matter too :(

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zjuka t1_iy877hj wrote

I’ve managed to survive without a car with a shopping trolley. Yeah, it’s about 20 min shlep each way to a supermarket and I have to decide in advance what I’m buying so it fits in the rolly bag, but it definitely beats looking for parking in the Heights.

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kittyglitther t1_iy4msyg wrote

>I do the bulk of my shopping at places that I have to take a car or bus to because this Supremo is the only place within walking distance of my apartment.

There's a Stop and Shop nearby, and there's a Shop Rite nearby in Hoboken. Trader Joe's isn't a terrible walk either. I never go to Supremo.

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STMIHA t1_iy4t5w6 wrote

Thanks for the heads up. Haven’t been by there in a bit but will def be more cautious.

Just an FYI for some - Had some issues with quality/ freshness of some packaged goods from instant rices and so forth, almost like goods were facing drastic temp changes while in transit, unless exp dates were mislabeled.

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upnflames t1_iy672wb wrote

I think this is a common thing in small groceries that simply don't have their shit together. I know a few small or independent grocers in NYC with the same exact issue. I complained a million times, it never got better.

I don't think it's super intentional, I think it's more that the register updates the prices all at once and they don't have their shit together enough to change all the prices in a single night.

Doesn't make it right or anything, just my thoughts. I try not to assign malice in instances where incompetence could be the cause.

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Connect_Choice_3042 t1_iy515qi wrote

Local supermarket, call hq? Of yeah there is none! And don’t get me started about the help! Good help is hard ( real hard to find today) !

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_iy5rz0x wrote

Good help isn't hard to find at all.

Raise the wages and good help will line up out the door to work for you.

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cb2-0-0 t1_iy7qfi2 wrote

Been hoping for years that someone takes Supremo over and turns it into an actually decent grocery store.

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jjvvllxx t1_iy6dwiu wrote

I really am not a big fan... i walked in once and there was mold in the bread. I only really go in to get stationary stuff like dish soap and cleaning supplies. but I do have noticed the inaccurate price ring up...

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Onlytheonethatlived t1_iy6pqoq wrote

Someone mentioned but you really need to record and take the recording of the higher prices ringing up w the photos of the advertised prices. This is illegal for them to do this. Any of the local news outlets will likely run it/investigate and ,in my opinion, this is really the only way it will ever change.

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AnimaIKingdom t1_iy7eflv wrote

What supermarket do you guys go to and like the most? For me in hoboken its pretty much shoprite and i go to costco.

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Catarmy1 t1_iybl6i2 wrote

The new clients brought it. It was a neighborhood Market for a long time then gentrification

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Historical_Times_29 t1_iybntbu wrote

They are taking advantage of the people in the neighborhood because they know we don’t have a lot of choices. I went once, never again. Trader Joe’s is cheaper

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HobokenJ t1_iyejdiu wrote

Many years ago, I worked as a "Secret Shopper" doing reports for Southland Corp (they are the franchisor for 7-11). One of my tasks was to compare the actual price of each item to the price charged at the register--and you would be shocked at how often customers were nickel-and-dimed. All day, every day: 20 cents here, 30 cents there. Hundreds of these fraudulent transactions a day, and it adds up (oh, and beer? You might get nicked for an extra buck or two).

This didn't happen at every 7-11... but certainly a sizable percentage. It's despicable.

Supremo should be put out of its misery.

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zjuka t1_iy86jlv wrote

It does feel like they stopped giving a rat’s ass about quality, freshness and customer service in Supremo over the last few years.

It’s possible they just sitting out their contractual lease obligation and will close once it’s done. I’ve lived near a supermarket that was getting more and more shitty over few years and finally closed in Brooklyn years ago. It was replaced by a lot more expensive, “luxury” grocery store, geared toward richer public that was gentrifying that neighborhood.

Given Jersey City trend, it’ll most likely will be replaced with an apartment building with a daycare center, not another supermarket, if that happens.

I have absolutely no insider information on this subject, maybe they’ll get their shit together eventually, once the economy is a bit more stable.

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cb2-0-0 t1_iy8bp2g wrote

It did happen downtown when C-Town became Key Foods

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aa043 t1_iy5mpw3 wrote

The problem with your observations is the timing. Smaller supermarkets like that Supremo can't keep up with the constant increases from suppliers which under high inflation has been unusual. The same applies also to other supermarkets but some of them are much larger; generally when you point out something to Supremo they check and give you the lower price and add that to their huge list of updates to be done.

Stop and Shop and ShopRite, two much larger companies, have many advertised specials that do not ring up properly because they can't make their advertised coupons work properly on computers and always keep asking you to download their apps instead that run on tiny cellphones screens. Why can't large, some billion dollar ones, companies get simple programming correct?

Supremo is not that bad, I am fairly certain that usually give you the lower marked price unless price is too old (they can't afford to take large losses and they serve several communities). I suggest you be kind to them and forgive their problems, its not worth walking to Hoboken where prices are much higher than Supremo's.

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jgweiss t1_iy5p83s wrote

this is how you end up with shitty options. don't patronize bad businesses because 'they are trying.', you demand that business serve your community to a minimum standard.

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_iy5ruyl wrote

> generally when you point out something to Supremo they check and give you the lower price and add that to their huge list of updates to be done.

Doesn't matter, it's still against the law.

If they can't keep their prices listed, they can close down.

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