TOUR: Price Chopper - Webster, MA

Price Chopper

Opened: 2013

Previous Tenants: none
Location: 2 Worcester Rd, Webster, MA
Photographed: October 10, 2020

Welcome to one of the nicest Price Choppers out there! Around 2013, Price Chopper began experimenting with new and higher-end store formats. They shifted from an older format (which we saw in East Stroudsburg) to multiple newer formats. Webster was among the first -- if not the first -- store opened with this format and decor package, in April 2013. (A store in Little Falls, NY followed in the summer.) The year prior, the ultimately unsuccessful small-format Price Chopper Limited would open in Saratoga Springs, and the following year, the truly spectacular Market Bistro would open in Latham, outside Albany. Ultimately, also in 2014, Price Chopper announced they'd be rebranding the chain to the Market 32 format.

The 70,000 square foot Webster Price Chopper came just before the Market 32 concept, but clearly shares similarities to the stores that would come. A large and very deluxe grand aisle is on the left side of the store, with a cafe and a Starbucks in the front left corner, then bagels/donuts, deli, and prepared foods on the left side wall. Bakery, seafood, and meat are on the back wall. Frozen foods are on the right of the store, with dairy on the right side. A liquor store is in the front right corner, with packaged bread in the front right corner. Pharmacy is in the typical Price Chopper setup in an island at the front of the first aisle.

As we see, this interior is very different from some of the earlier ones.

I believe this is the first era of Price Chopper stores that had a Starbucks built in, although there may have been a few before this.

A large cheese island sits opposite the deli towards the back of the store.

I think there's a big difference in quality between Price Chopper and Market 32, although I would say this store is run more like a Market 32 than a Price Chopper. We'll see a beautiful Market 32 in about two weeks here in Worcester County.

A large bakery department is in the back left corner of the grand aisle.

Looking up towards the front of the grand aisle...

It looks like this decor package was designed by CIP Retail, which also did decor for the Market Bistro and the Market 32 concept.

Even though this is a fancy-looking Price Chopper, it's still a Price Chopper and the layout is roughly the same as what we've seen in the other stores. The first few aisles have HABA and the pharmacy in an island.

I like the skylights a lot, which I've been seeing in more newly-built supermarkets. They really help to add natural light, especially in a store like this that doesn't really have windows in the front.

Service butcher counter and packaged meats on the back wall.

At around 70,000 square feet, this store is quite large and feels spacious but unlike some of the Price Choppers I've been to, not overly spacious.

We move into frozen foods towards the right side of the store...

I like the flooring here, too, since it's neutral but not too boring. And I really like the backlit department signs.

Bread and an entrance to the liquor store are in the front right corner of the supermarket...

...and dairy/frozen are on the far right side of the supermarket.

There's another entrance on the liquor store side of the supermarket, which also brings us into floral in the front right corner.

And a look across the front-end...

This is a gorgeous store! It's the only supermarket in Webster, a town of around 18,000, so it probably does just fine (although Park 'n Shop is just west in Dudley). There used to be two other supermarkets just north of here, which we'll be seeing tomorrow and Thursday!