TOUR: Hannaford - North Brookfield, MA

Hannaford

Opened: 2004

Previous Tenants: Victory Supermarkets (closed 2004)

Location: 5 Gilbert St, North Brookfield, MA

Photographed: May 22, 2021

Welcome to the Hannaford of North Brookfield! This is a small town of just under 5,000 people, and this is the only grocery store for several miles around. The 30,000 square foot store was built between 1986 and 1997, although it replaced an older building on the same property. And up until 2004, the store was owned by local chain Victory Supermarkets. Their stores were primarily in northern Worcester County and southern New Hampshire until Hannaford acquired the chain in 2004.

The outside has similarities to actually both Stop & Shop and Shaw's stores, although those similarities are likely coincidental or perhaps because the same architecture firm was responsible for all of them.

And although Hannaford and Stop & Shop are now under the same umbrella of Ahold Delhaize, you'd barely know it. Nearly every Hannaford I've been in has been in excellent repair and really nice, while some of the Stop & Shops are quite rough. Even though this is a small store in a small town, it's a very nice store.

This store was renovated sometime around 2020 to a simple but attractive version of the current decor package.

The grand aisle is on the right side of the store, with produce in the front right corner. Deli is in the back right corner with seafood on the back wall. Meats are on the rest of the back wall, with dairy and frozen on the far left side. Bakery is in the front left corner, and pharmacy is on the front wall between the entrance/grand aisle and the registers.

For whatever reason, I just don't feel that the legacy Delhaize brands have the same lifeless feeling that Stop & Shop does. Now, I'm no fan of Stop & Shop to be sure, but we will see some very nice ones here in MA. We'll also see some that maybe should've been put out of their misery some time ago. But by and large the Hannafords I've been in have been great. (Plus, Hannaford by my estimate is consistently cheaper than Stop & Shop.)

Here's a look at the pharmacy department. I was a bit surprised to find a store of this small had a very complete pharmacy department. You can also see the registers beyond it to the right.

In the grocery aisles, we find the store is a bit cramped but very well-organized and well-stocked.

It looks like many of the fixtures were either replaced or repainted at least in the renovation.

The decor package here is simple, clean, and attractive. I wouldn't say it's innovative or exciting but it looks good here and it looks even better in the larger stores where it's more deluxe.

The last few aisles are under a lower ceiling, which we can see here.

Here in the freezer department, it's not that the lights are burnt out in the cases -- they're on a motion sensor, which I see in more and more supermarkets lately.

Bakery is in the front corner. Again, small but attractive and complete.

Here's a look across the front-end back towards the grand aisle...

And looking at the registers and pickup/delivery area...

Now we're headed to tour another chain supermarket about five miles to the east!