Original Grocery Tenant: unknown
Address: 139 West St, Ware, MA
Address: 139 West St, Ware, MA
Opened: unknown
Closed: unknown
Later Tenants: Rite Aid > Dollar General
Photographed: March 13, 2022
Here's another building like the one we saw in Palmer that looks a lot like a former supermarket to me. The space is around 19,000 square feet and, like the Palmer store, was previously a Rite Aid. Notice the similarity in facade, too. Totally a shot in the dark here since I know nothing about drugstores, but is it possible both pharmacies were previously Brooks? I know they had at least some stores in these small central MA towns, and my understanding is many became Rite Aids. Anyhow, we know this building was built in 1966 and, in historical aerial photos, looks an awful lot like a supermarket. You can even almost read a sign in the 1971 aerial photo. It's also possible, I suppose, that this was the original Big Y in town, though I suspect the original Ware Big Y was what's now the pet store and Mexican restaurant next to the current Big Y. Any input is much appreciated! We're getting closer and closer to Worcester (we're in Worcester County now) and tomorrow we're headed another nine miles east to tour a supermarket in another small Worcester County town!
At least on this (Berkshires) side of Massachusetts, Rite Aid did not exist until they bought out Brooks/Eckerd. They had some stores in CT, VT (even Bennington, so that close to the MA line) and of course NY, but not in between in MA.
ReplyDeleteNeither did Walgreens (you'd find those by the time you got to Westfield, but not further west), though that sort of makes sense as they were also not in much of NY (north of Kingston) until only a few years before they bought the Rite Aid locations (save one that was apparently in Albany MANY years ago, back in the lunch counter days).
Not sure if they ever had stores further east, but it would probably be a good assumption that most, if not all, of the Rite Aid locations in MA were from the Brooks transaction.
Very interesting history, thanks!
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