Stop & Shop
Opened: 2008
Massachusetts is Stop & Shop's home state, but even within the state there are areas where the chain struggles. Even in their home territory of metro Boston, Market Basket beats Stop & Shop in market share. In the greater Springfield area and western Mass, Stop & Shop has several stores but lags behind market leader Big Y, which is based near Springfield. One of the three Stop & Shop stores within the city of Springfield is set to close this month -- and it's directly across the street from a large, well-run Big Y in a former A&P. The Big Y spans nearly 70,000 square feet, while this store is much smaller at about 54,000 square feet.
This store was a ground-up build dating back to around 2008. It's a really nice facility but, kind of like today's other stop in Raynham, there are some confusing decor choices. This store has roughly the same decor package as that one, although both are strange variations. This one omits the usual big pictures and slogans like "Taste & Time", opting instead for simple, no-nonsense department names.
I have no idea why they may have designed the store this way. It wasn't a quick conversion from another operator, it wasn't even a renovation. The store, as far as I can tell, was built this way. It's not bad at all -- it helps that the facility feels large, spacious, and modern -- but just a strange choice.
Despite the unusual decor, it's a very familiar layout for a store of this era. Bakery, prepared foods, deli, and seafood line the left-side wall of the store. Meat and dairy are on the back wall with the rest of dairy and frozen on the right side. Floral is in the front-right corner. As far as I can tell, this store never had a pharmacy. (Big Y does.)
I have no idea if my visit was emblematic of the store's usual performance, but there may as well have been tumbleweeds rolling down the aisles when I visited on a Friday afternoon.
To my surprise, this store had a service seafood counter right up until the end. Big Y, though, has a much larger seafood department with a wider selection and even a menu of seafood meals you can order hot, such as fish and chips.
You can see this store really looks quite new. Unfortunately, I doubt that it'll remain a supermarket. Big Y has such a strong presence in the Springfield area that I doubt another new player would want to enter. There's of course the chance that Northeast Grocery could want to place a Market 32 here -- they have stores both east and west of Springfield, but none in the immediate area -- or the very, very remote possibility that a Wakefern owner could be looking to expand into Massachusetts. At one time, Mott's ShopRite was in the Springfield area, and Wakefern maintains a presence through its discount Price Rite stores. Shaw's isn't likely to be looking for new stores and, anyway, their nearest and farthest-west MA store is in Sturbridge, a good 30 miles away.
You'd hardly know the store was set for closure by looking at the grocery aisles at the time of my visit, although there were a few conspicuous holes in the stock.
You can see that the signage across the store is so plain that it practically disappears with the higher ceilings.
But as soon as we get into nonfoods and HABA, we see some significant empty shelves.
These sections were cleaned out well before the rest of the store, and from what I've heard the stock was sent to other locations.
I don't believe these freezers, or any other fixtures for that matter, were replaced after the store's opening.
Practically no decor in the last aisle here. It's an odd choice, especially in a new-build store.
This corner is where we'd typically see a pharmacy, but I can't find any evidence that there was ever one here. Notice the floral sign from a newer decor package, possibly from a closed or renovated store.
And a look across the front-end...
Opened: 2008
Owner: Ahold Delhaize
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: none
Location: 415 Cooley St, Sixteen Acres, Springfield, MA
Photographed: August 23, 2024
I visited this store back in August and it was clearly preparing to close but still was a mostly-functional supermarket. Unlike some of the stores (even including Raynham), this store felt up-to-date and well-maintained. The building is so new that there's hardly a chance for it to become outdated.
We'll see if anyone moves into this location, but in the meantime, here's today's other stops!
And to note, the plaza with the Big Y also contains the Big Lots (which is NOT closing at this point, unlike the one over in West Springfield by the Big E - is that enough big things for one area? ;) ).
ReplyDeleteCertainly not certain that anyone would be interested, but also to note that ShopRite (via Garafalo) is in Enfield, CT which is not very far away despite being a different state (and competes there in a former Shaw's with both a neighboring Stop & Shop and a Big Y up the street), so certainly a possibility they would find MA area(s) like this only minutes away to be a possible expansion area.
You're right -- and in my experience, Garafolo runs top-notch stores that would probably be a serious contender here. Then again, if Wakefern hasn't been pushing into Massachusetts yet with the ShopRite brand, and in fact retreating a bit with multiple Price Rite closures in the last few years... is it really likely they'd try now? It's an intriguing possibility, but like you said, perhaps not a sure thing at all.
DeleteIt is a good question, though of course they do have Price Rite locations in that area as well, the one on Memorial in West Springfield by the Big E and one on Boston Road, plus Chicopee and Westfield. Not sure if there were ever others around that area that did close or not (I know they did over in Pittsfield, even though the one in Schenectady, NY survives by itself as it was before the ShopRite entry and exit of that area).
DeleteThat department signage, or lack there of, is taking me back to the 70's when stores simply put up the name of the department and nothing else. Both ShopRite and Pathmark did this type of thing back in the day. The store seems to have a serious lack of branding. Once inside, you would hardly know what store you're shopping in.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! It does feel like a much older style of store design than the store itself actually is.
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