Poof! Insta-Grocery Shopping

Our Suburban Archeologist lets us in on an amazing secret.

We are all desperate housewives, especially at 2:59 when it’s time to pick up the kids. Just when we’re a third of the way down our to-do list — ding! — mother’s little hindrances arrive home. Who can blame us if we’re always looking for the next labor-saving device — whether it’s a cleaning squadron or a Blackberry?

For most people, the Internet’s a help. From banking to ordering pet meds. Even paying those endless Montclair conveyor belt parking tickets (I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m in the acceptance phase and I refer to them as my way of giving to the √¢‚Ǩ≈ìMontclair community fund√¢‚Ǩ¬ù) on njcourtsonline.com. And, as someone who does not √¢‚Ǩ≈ìdo√¢‚Ǩ¬ù math, nothing compares to PayCycle.com for our company√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s accounting needs. But as resident Suburban Archaeologist, I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m always digging for new time saving-treasures. Have I got a gem for you.

The most sublime time saver of all? Online grocery shopping at Nutley Shoprite. I practically skipped with joy down Lorraine Street when I realized my days of lumbering through the grocery store were O-V-E-R. I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d rather chew glass than crisscross through the supermarket ever again, pushing a 500 hundred pound cart, escorting two kids to the bathroom (at different times, no less), buying snacks to the tune of "Mommy, Mommy you forgot my balloon!" and getting half-way through check-out before realizing I’d forgotten my deli order.

So I’m feeling rather smug about my discovery. Ok, it’s not available at Brookdale Shoprite (my supermarket with a heart), but who cares? And even if the service is $10 extra, you save money. In fact, my first grocery bill was half as much as the usual one because I didn’t impulse buy.

Click on shoprite.com  to create a master list (which takes little time). Don√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t worry, it√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s got the all pictures, specials, brand names and aisles to guide you. Plus, you can modify that list anytime to make it smaller or larger. Choose the pick-up time in the drop-down box. (You need to plan pick-up about four hours ahead). Go to the Nutley Shoprite on Franklin Street, pull into the far end of the store parking lot, back in, and a sensor alerts an employee you are in the pick-up  area. So far, I√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve never seen a waiting line. An employee greets you at your car window (the first time with flowers for using their service) and poof! insta-shopping in less than five, count √¢‚ǨÀúem guys, five minutes. They take my debit card to pay and load up my trunk with my order. Yes, full serve. As if I were buying gas.

Drawbacks? Sure, there’s the occasional snafu. Once, for instance, I got a single apple instead of a whole bag. I learned my lesson and ordered more carefully the next time. A small price, I think, for squeezing an extra 90 minutes into a 24-hour-day. Isaac Newton would be proud.

Lisa Finan