638 Chandler St, Worcester, MA

Original Grocery Tenant: Finast

Address: 638 Chandler St, Tatnuck, Worcester, MA

Opened: bet. 1962 and 1969

Closed: bet. 1979 and 1985

Later Tenants: Iandoli Super Market (opened bet. 1979 and 1985, closed bet. 1985 and 1991) > subdivided

Photographed: December 9, 2018; September 7, 2019; and October 9, 2020

Yesterday we saw the former Whitman's Super Market on Chandler Street, and today we're a mile and a half northwest at Tatnuck Square. This building is larger than Whitman's, at around 23,000 square feet, and it has several supermarkets in its past. In the 1960s and 70s, it was a Finast, later becoming an Iandoli by 1979 (possibly replacing the one I mentioned at 411 Chandler). My guess is the store closed when Iandoli was acquired by Shaw's in 1988; I don't believe this was ever a Shaw's.

I visited the store first in 2018 right before Rocky's Ace Hardware moved into the former Whitman's space. Here's that store as it was closing...

Both the CVS and the hardware store were the original Finast space.

And the following year, we can see the facade getting a small renovation to modernize it slightly...

...and one more time in 2020, with the renovation finished.

The former Rocky's space is now a liquor store. That's all for now, but come back on Monday for a look inside a small grocer near Newton Square. Have a great weekend!

(Oh, and in the meantime -- tomorrow, come back to check out a brand-new store in Central Jersey!)