bottom dollar woodbury

Woodbury's Bottom Dollar location was busy on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2014. All 66 Bottom Dollar locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio will close by Jan. 15. (Greg Adomaitis | South Jersey Times)

It's official: All 66 Bottom Dollar grocery stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio will close by Jan. 15, reports say, leaving more than 2,000 employees out of a job.

News came in early November that the company that owns Bottom Dollar Food planned to sell the sites to ALDI, Inc. Presently, it's not known if Aldi will re-open any of the former Bottom Dollar locations following the closure.

"I have no plans as of yet," said Elena Simon, an employee at the Woodbury store and lifelong city resident, said Saturday morning between ringing up customers.

Simon, who was a private healthcare worker before an injury took her out of the field, said returning to that line of duty wouldn't be her first choice.

However, "I can still go back," she said.

The transaction is likely to be completed early this year and Aldi has expressed interest in growing their footprint in the United States.

All employees will be offered severance and some others will be eligible for "career transition services," according to supermarketnews.com.

"We want to thank our associates, customers and communities for their support over the past four years," Gene Faller, vice president of retail operations for Bottom Dollar, told the website.

New Jersey Bottom Dollar sites include Bellmawr, Bordentown, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, Clementon, East Windsor, Edgewater Park, Glassboro, Lumberton, Marlton, Trenton, Turnersville and Woodbury, the Associates Press reports.

In Woodbury, city officials said the need for a grocery store in walking distance will remain.

"Bottom Dollar played a role in the community, and there's a need for that type of store within walking distance in the downtown," city council member Bill Flemming said.

Among the roles Bottom Dollar Food played in Woodbury had been as an employer of 60 part-time workers. The store also regularly donated food to those in need, including $500 in groceries to families who were forced to temporarily leave their homes in Woodbury Court last January due to a broken heating system at the apartment complex.

"Everybody's sad — coworkers, customers, bosses," Simon said.

Doris Thorton, who lives a mere two blocks from the Broad Street store in Woodbury, was walking from the parking lot Saturday with a bag full of purchases.

"It's a big savings, it's convenient," said Thorton, adding that her car isn't currently road-worthy so a grocery store in walking distance has been a great help.

"Othewise you have to try to get to Acme or Shoprite," she added.

An online effort to gain the attention of the Trader Joe's grocery store chain in hopes of them filling the Woodbury void has gained considerable attention.

"This 'Bring TJ's to Woodbury' campaign is about more than access to good food that's affordable; it's also about education and dispelling the myths that quality food is automatically expensive. Everyone deserves to have access to that kind of sustenance," Woodbury resident Jim McHugh told the Times in December.

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Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@southjerseymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.