The Market Report

Shaw's Opened:  unknown; possibly 1972 Previous Tenants:  unknown Location:  178 Main St, Sturbridge, MA Photographed:  November 30, 2018 Today is the slightly smaller of the two supermarkets here in Sturbridge, but at around 42,000 square feet, it's not a small store. The Shaw's of Sturbridge was renovated most recently with the cheap version of Premium Fresh & Healthy 3.0 right at the end of the Supervalu days (around 2012-2013), although at the rate Shaw's has been doing renovations it's possible they've redone it by now. We enter to customer service in the front right corner. Produce is on the right side, and is kind of a self-contained section split off from the rest of the grand aisle. Behind that is deli and seafood, with meat on the back wall. Dairy/frozen are on the left side, and on the front wall are natural foods (next to the entrance), the registers, sale items, and bakery from right to left. Note the big empty section of the greens -- something

Stop & Shop Opened: between 1998 and 2001 Previous Tenants:  none Location:  100 Charlton Rd, Sturbridge, MA Photographed:  April 3, 2021 and November 22, 2023 Sturbridge has two supermarkets, a Shaw's and this Stop & Shop, which I suspect may have moved from a spot just up the street from here. It was constructed between 1998 and 2001 according to Historic Aerials, and has a pretty typical Super Stop & Shop layout. I don't know what decor packages this store has had over the years, but around 2015-18, it was renovated to a pretty no-frills version of the decor package it currently has. The grand aisle is on the right side of the store, with natural foods in the front right corner and deli lining the right side of the grand aisle. Produce is on the left. Meat and seafood line the back wall, with dairy and frozen on the left side. Bakery is in the front left corner. I don't believe there's a pharmacy here. The natural foods department here is quite extensiv

Amazon Fresh Opened: June 20, 2024 Owner:  Amazon Previous Tenants:  Toys R Us Cooperative:  none Location:  137 NJ-35, Eatontown, NJ Photographed:  June 22, 2024 Amazon Fresh has had a bit of a tumultuous history. Analysts expected the e-commerce giant to revolutionize the grocery business when they first introduced their Amazon Fresh concept in 2020 with a store in California . Four years later, not only has Amazon had a minimal impact on the industry, but they've struggled to create a store that resonates with customers. I visited the Paramus location a few weeks ago and found it almost laughably bad, with rotting produce, sparse shelves, and weirdly high prices. (I can tolerate high prices at an independent grocer; there is no excuse from Amazon.) Well, in 2023, Amazon announced the chain was embarking on a revamp of the brand . A few stores would be renovated, the "Just Walk Out" technology would be phased out, and the format and product mix would change slightly.