Circus Foodtown Owner Reveals Why There Are Empty Shelves At Their Grocery Stores

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ — Why are there empty shelves at three Circus Foodtown supermarkets in Monmouth County?

The grocery stores are not closing, Circus Foodtown President and CEO Lou Scaduto Jr. stressed in a public letter he released to the community Wednesday.

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His family's grocery store empire is currently in an argument with their primary supplier of groceries, he said. That's why many of the shelves at Circus Foodtowns in Atlantic Highlands, Red Bank and Wall have been bare this week.

"On behalf of the Azzolina and Scaduto families, please let us apologize for the unacceptable conditions you are currently seeing in our stores," Scaduto's letter read. "It is not our intent to operate this way but our family-owned business is currently in a dispute with our primary grocery supplier that we are actively trying to work through."

"Despite what you may have seen on social media it is NOT our intent to close any of our stores as we continue to negotiate with our primary supplier. We remain positive that we can remedy the supply issues that we face."

People in the area are worried. The shelves similarly looked bare at the Super Foodtown in Middletown's Port Monmouth section right before the store abruptly and permanently closed last fall: Port Monmouth Super Foodtown Will Close Oct. 24 (October 2025)

Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner affirmed Scaduto's comments that he is having a dispute with a supplier.

"I personally spoke with Mr. Scaduto yesterday and he shared the difficulty they are having with their main supplier," she said in this Facebook post Wednesday. "The Azzolina and Scaduto families released the following statement reiterating their commitment to the community and that they are not closing our store. They have also been generously supporting our local @AACC food pantry with the support of the community. Hopefully the situation will be resolved soon."

The Scaduto and Azzolina families also own Circus Wines, Beer & Spirits, a chain of liquor stores in Monmouth County. They are the owners of the "Calico the Evil Clown" property on Rt. 35 in Middletown, which for decades had a signature evil clown sign in the front.

Here is the entirety of the letter Scaduto released to the public Wednesday:

On behalf of the Azzolina and Scaduto Families, please let us apologize for the unacceptable conditions you are currently seeing in our Stores.

It is not our intent to operate this way but our family-owned business is currently in a dispute with our primary grocery supplier that we are actively trying to work through.

Despite what you may have seen on social media it is NOT our intent to close any of our stores as we continue to negotiate with our primary supplier. We remain positive that we can remedy the supply issues that we face and we ask for your patience as we navigate getting the stores back to the condition that you need and we expect.

Lou Scaduto Jr.President and CEO