A&P in Little Silver reopened early Friday afternoon after the building’s roof partially collapsed this week. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
The A&P supermarket in Little Silver is back in business after a 48-hour shutdown caused by this week’s blizzard.
Contractors worked since Wednesday to shore up the roof of the building, which partially collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, and the store got permission to reopen its doors at around noon Friday.
Within an hour, shoppers wended through the store loading up carts and baskets, moving around a cordoned off section at the south end where the damage occurred.
The reason for the partial collapse. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
Building landlord Ben Lucarelli said a lasting fix, to replace three broken roof joists, will take between three and four weeks to complete. Meantime, temporary supports have stabilized the roof above the store’s prepared foods section.
“It’s more solid than it was before,” he said. “It was certainly solid before, but then the snow hit it and caused it to crack.”
Lucarelli said in addition to the two-foot blast of snow that fell late Sunday and early Monday, a northern wind swept an additional two feet onto the southern end of the food store’s roof.
“That’s a lot of snow, and it’s real heavy,” he said.
Although the prepared foods section will be out of commission until the joists are replaced, all other sections of the store are open as usual, Lucarelli said.
