Look Inside: Woodland Superette - Worcester, MA

Woodland Superette

Opened: ca. 1960

Owner: Phillip Alexiadas

Previous Tenants: RD Creamer & Son > Community Stores > The Corner Store > Woodland Street Market

Cooperative: none

Location: 30 Woodland St, Main Middle, Worcester, MA

Photographed: February 10, 2019; November 8, 2020; November 16, 2020; and February 1, 2022

The Woodland Superette is a stunningly well-preserved example of an early 20th century grocery store. The space dates back to 1880, when this brick apartment building was constructed. I don't know about all the way back then, but by 1916, R. D. Creamer & Son had a small grocery store in the corner of the building. By 1922, that had become a Community Stores, and by 1943, The Corner Store. By 1949, the store had become the Woodland Street Market, a name it would retain until about 1960 when it became the Woodland Superette.

Here's a look at the back of the building...

By my estimate, the store is around 1,000 square feet, but it's hard to figure out exactly how large it is. You can't miss the distinctive storefront, though, which likely looks very similar today as it did back in the late 1800s.

I'm including a few pictures I took through the front windows on a Sunday, when the store is closed. We will also get a look inside the store in a little bit.

I have to imagine a lot of this is many decades old, although I assume originally it would've been set up as a service grocer. This shelving probably dates back nearly a century, though.

Not the Savor the Flavor potato chips shelf, obviously.

And here's a look inside the store when it was open! It's not a full supermarket of course, but you see there's more shelf-stable groceries than your average convenience store. At one time, there may have been meats, produce, and/or a deli (if I remember correctly, a deli counter-type fixture is still there), but these days, none of those are available anymore.

The store had several Price Rite brand items, which makes me think the owner may just go to Price Rite to restock when necessary and then resell the items.

Here's an overview of the store. You can imagine how little it must have changed in the last several decades.

And some great old fixtures remain, too, such as these soda shelves and the refrigerator behind it! I would guess the refrigerator originally had either meats or produce. Or possibly both.

I love these longtime, well-preserved grocery stores, and I'm very glad I got to photograph this one! Tomorrow we're headed a couple blocks northwest to see a recently-closed grocery store.