TOUR: Shaw's - Auburn, MA

Shaw's

Opened: 1987

Previous Tenants: Iandoli Supermarkets
Location: 368 Southbridge St, Auburn, MA
Photographed: November 9, 2018; May 3, 2019; September 11, 2020; April 2, 2021; September 18, 2021; and December 8, 2021

This isn't our first Shaw's tour (also see here), but I still feel like we've only scratched the surface of the Shaw's coverage I have. The Auburn Shaw's is another store (like Park 'n Shop, across town about two miles south) that I've photographed over and over again because I've been there so many times.

The store, of around 36,000 square feet, might look like a very old Shaw's, but it's not actually that old -- it opened only in 1987, but the store dates back much further to the days when Iandoli Supermarkets was here. Shaw's acquired this location along with several others in and around Worcester in 1987, but this is the only one left that hasn't been replaced or renovated extensively.

Note also that it has a slightly older version of the Shaw's logo, rather than the current one.

The store has a relic behind it, too...

Star Market is the Boston-area, typically urban counterpart to Shaw's. We'll be seeing many of their stores once we get to the Boston area.

The store is tucked away behind a 21,000 square foot former Bed Bath & Beyond (originally Service Merchandise). I long wondered why Shaw's hasn't expanded into the space, especially given the property setup with Shaw's facing the side street (but, as we can see in the first few pictures, hidden behind trees and at a lower elevation than the street). Turns out Shaw's was proposing to do just that back in 2002. With the closure of Bed Bath & Beyond, and the potential for Shaw's to be reinvigorated following a Kroger merger (but who knows about that), I wouldn't be surprised if Shaw's revisits the idea.

Now let's head way back to November 2018, when I first visited the store.

Back then, BB&B was open too, but here's a good look at just how hard it is to find the Shaw's.

The old-school store has an old-school layout with some modern touches. Customer service is in the front right corner of the store, with service seafood and deli lining the right side of the tiny quasi-grand aisle. Bakery is at the back -- and yes, there's a full seafood and bakery department here, despite the store's small size -- with meats on the back wall. Frozen and dairy are on the far left of the store, with produce in the front left corner.

This decor package dates back to around the early 2000s. This is a relatively no-frills version of it, but we'll see more deluxe versions of this decor elsewhere.

I find it quite attractive, though. It's pleasant but looks dated these days. Here we can see the tiny grand aisle...

...although there are full service departments here, as I said.

The meat department extends down the rest of the back wall. It does seem that some of the fixtures had been updated at various points, and we'll see more updates over time.

In many cases, Albertsons Companies tends to be better at running and merchandising smaller stores like this one than many of their competitors. This store tends to be rather comprehensive even though it's smaller and seems to be popular, based on how busy it's been most times I've been.

There was previously a natural foods department on the front wall between the front-end and produce, but it was removed around 2020.

Frozen foods, with several different generations of cases, is in the second-to-last grocery aisle on the left side of the store.

Dairy begins on the back wall, seen below, and then continues down the last aisle...

There are 13 aisles in total, and the grand aisle is labeled as aisle 1. The produce department isn't in an aisle, so it doesn't get a number.

The space to the left of the cases seen below is backroom, and the produce department is in the front corner.

So in the below photo, the front wall of the store is the wall where the produce sign is.

This decor package comes with this large organic signage, which was also used in other departments to call out various specialty features, too, like cheese or breads.

And looking out of the produce department across the front wall of the store. I wonder if the produce section was once part of the backroom space, too, or if it was always set up this way.

And now for a look across the front-end before we see what's happened since that original 2018 tour...

...we come back in September of 2020 to see that the store has been remodeled. Kind of.

Inexplicably, the store got the Premium Fresh & Healthy 3.0 renovation long after it had been retired. (This was a decor package that originated with Supervalu, and was replaced by the subsequent decor package beginning in 2014. This renovation happened early to mid-2020, much later than the majority of PF&H 3.0 renovations.) Then again, we've seen weird stuff before from Albertsons Companies.

Like in so many stores, PF&H 3.0 is a significant downgrade for this store compared to the previous decor package. Still, it looks pretty good and seems to have been kept up rather well.

The renovation was mostly over when I visited in September 2020, but notice that the aisle markers hadn't yet been replaced. They have since.

It's very possible that this decor ended up in this store secondhand from a closed or renovated Shaw's elsewhere. It's also possible that Shaw's is anticipating closing, replacing, or expanding this store, as it's definitely an unusually outdated Shaw's -- so they didn't want to put too much money into it, but wanted to freshen it up a little.

Some new freezer cases came in here during the renovation, although others remain.

It looks like other fixtures were painted but not replaced.

We can see how simple the decor is these days...

The produce department got the most work, with new fixtures in the middle and around the perimeter.

And a look across the front-end...

Shaw's kept reshuffling the produce department a little more once they finished the renovation. Here's one more picture from 2021 showing the new promotional signage along with a slight reset of the department.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens to this store in the future! It's unlike some of the oldest ACMEs we've seen in that it's only been owned by Shaw's for a few decades, but it's clearly an outdated store although it's been maintained very well. Speaking of old supermarkets, let's check out a former grocery store right near the Worcester city line tomorrow!