Price Chopper
Open: ca. 2000-2023
Previous Tenants: none
Later Tenants: Market 32 (2023- )
Location: 1025 Pennsylvania Ave, Matamoras, PA
Photographed: February 3, 2021
Welcome to what I believe is our second Price Chopper tour! We saw one about
thirty miles south along the Delaware a while ago, and while this store is not nearly as new and nice as that one, it's definitely still a pretty solid supermarket. In anticipation of the opening of the nearby ShopRite in Matamoras in late 2021, this store was converted to the
higher-end Market 32 banner, with an attractive but relatively simple version of the
Market 32 interior. Notice the bones of this grand aisle and the ceiling are still as they were.
Bagels and donuts are to the right when you walk in, with the cafe in the front right corner. Prepared foods, deli, and bakery line the right-side wall, with meat and seafood on the back wall. Pharmacy is in an island in the first few aisles, and frozen/dairy are on the left side of the store. I don't believe the layout has changed significantly since the renovation.
While this store seemed to be well-run enough, it seemed to suffer from the same thing many Price Chopper stores do: empty service departments. Here we see prepared foods with absolutely nothing in them.
There's a cheese island opposite the deli/bakery. It's a little strange to me that the bagels/donuts are separated from the rest of the bakery, but it's not something I haven't seen before.
Service bakery in the back corner.
We can tell this was on the older side for a Price Chopper, many of which have gotten more extensive renovations. This one was about to, but I didn't know it at the time I was here!
And a look at the produce department, and we can see the pharmacy on the other side.
This seafood department looks fantastic. When I lived in central Massachusetts, my Price Chopper's seafood department was not nearly this nice.
HABA and some nonfoods are in the first few aisles with pharmacy.
Price Chopper's layout of this era is somewhat unusual, with nonfoods and things like cleaning supplies between the grand aisle and the rest of the groceries. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm more accustomed to seeing nonfoods and cleaning supplies at the far end of the store.
Now for a look at some of the Price Chopper I'm more familiar with. Empty meat case for no apparent reason... but to their credit, my local Price Chopper improved these inconsistencies with service counters a lot over the five years I was there.
Here we go into the grocery aisles at the other end of the store.
Price Chopper stores of this era have lower ceilings around the perimeter, which we can see here over the dairy and frozen departments.
It looks like this store hadn't gotten much updating until the Market 32 renovation.
Floral is in the front corner, with the Central Market branding. While I'm not too well-versed in Price Chopper history, it seems that the chain was previously called Central Markets.
And a look at cold cuts and dairy in the last aisle. I will say, although this store had some issues with closed service departments, it was spotlessly clean and well-stocked. Check out that floor!
And, my friends, that wraps up Pennsylvania! This is our last supermarket in Pennsylvania... for now at least! But any longtime readers are gonna know what's up next. Tomorrow it's time for Streetside Sights & Scenes, a look at all the many non-supermarket things I've seen while traveling around Pennsylvania, right here on The Market Report!
That looks exactly like many other Price Chopper locations I have seen, which makes sense as it is in the same timeframe (being opened in the early 2000 range).
ReplyDeleteLayout sounds familiar as well. Things like the separated bagels, I think they were aiming to make it seem like an independent bagel shop, as most used to offer coffee and such as well. The pharmacy done as an island just past the produce (with the HABA around it in both long & short aisles - originally it seems that most stores had just HABA behind the pharmacy, then the paper goods, pet, and cleaning in the next couple aisles, though they had changed that here given what you show in the short aisle).
As to changes, it seems they did quite a bit in some stores when making them Market 32, while others got less (for instance, East Greenbush still has the pharmacy island, while other places they got totally moved to a corner).
Even where they did get moved to an exterior area, that is odd since at least a couple have drive-thru options, but not always where the actual pharmacy is (they just use a tube, like a bank - one case the pharmacy is front right corner, the tube window is on the left end of the building!).
Yes, the chain was founded as Central Markets in 1932 (which is where the new name of Market >>32<< comes from, as apparently someone else has the rights to Central Markets now, but they couldn't be stopped from using the Market part and the year they opened). They had switched to Price Chopper in the 1970's, trying to get customer attention in a time when prices were rising due to inflation (much like recent times) as a store with better deals to offer those customers.
I have noted the lack of prepared foods in some stores (OK, one in particular, not far from a recently closed ShopRite in Albany, though it seems to be that store in general cutting back on what they offer).
Not sure if that is an issue with the chain in more areas, lack of personnel or in this case that they just hadn't restarted some of those departments in early 2021 when your post says you were there (maybe having cut back on them during Covid) - I also noted the one-way sign sneaking into one photo :)
Not sure exactly how this address relates to the location of the former Grand Union, but thinking it must be somewhat in that area, given the backdrop - maybe on the opposite side of 209/6? I just remember being there in the late 90's, eating at McDonald's (which was on the same side as the GU plaza, maybe even in front of it), and having a similar mountain view looking across the road.
Guesstimating that the PC opened prior to the bankruptcy of GU in 2001 (since you said circa 2000), as otherwise they would have been more likely to take over the GU spot as they did with several stores in the Albany area, both newer and older models.
OK, will stop now before this post gets to be longer than your original ;)
The exterior of this one however seems more closer to c. 2002-2004, judging by the slightly more detailed exterior - particularly the trim on the top of the facade.
DeleteThanks for your thoughts on this store and PC history! BillyGr, never be afraid to write more than I do. I always like to hear what you have to say!
DeleteYou are correct, we're just under a mile east on route 209, and this is on the north side while the GU is on the south side.