Bottom Dollar Shoppers Undeterred by Rain, Lines at Opening

Hundreds of Woodbury and West Deptford residents waited in line for hours early Thursday morning for a chance to get free groceries at the grand opening of the new Bottom Dollar Food in Woodbury.

The store was offering one free bag of groceries to its first customers, and even heavy rains didn't deter them from arriving early to guarantee their prize.

“Somebody called me at about 12:00 last night,” said Arthur Clark, the first of the shoppers in line. 

“I’ve been here since about 1:00 this morning," Clark said. "I was the only one here until about 5:00.”

Despite the excitement, shoppers were generally calm and orderly as they filed into the store shortly after the 8 a.m. ribbon-cutting. Bottom Dollar provided the first 200 guests with gold tokens and a shopping cart, which they exchanged for reusable bags of groceries.

“It was good, wasn’t too crowded and they let a lot of people in,” said Alicia Maher, one of the first shoppers. 

“I would come back here," Maher said. "They have cheaper prices than Wal-Mart.”

Store Manager Paul Minniti was especially pleased with the turnout, and said he is excited to be part of the Woodbury community.

“Whenever you have people lined up around the building, I mean, that’s all you can ask for,” Minniti said. “It’s been a great turnout; people are lining up, and the community is glad we’re here. We’re glad to be here for them and help revitalize the neighborhood. 

"There’s a lot going on in the city of Woodbury and we’re just glad to be a part of it,” he said.