380 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P
Address: 380 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA (362 Maple Ave)

Opened: between 1961 and 1964

Closed: between 1964 and 1975

Later Tenants: Finast (?)

Photographed: March 20, 2021

The first supermarket at the corner of Maple Avenue and Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury was this A&P, built (probably) as a centennial store in the early 1960s, per city directories (although it lacks several key details of the centennial stores, it does have the signature roof and, until the 1980s, had the cupola on top). Looking at Historic Aerials, the 14,000 square foot store may date to the late 1950s -- it's hard to say because the imagery cuts off halfway through this property in the 1960s, but the rest of the strip mall had been built -- in which case it could've been built pre-centennial era, and then remodeled later to that design. That would explain the slight differences we see between this and other centennials.

I caught the building under construction, as it was being prepared for this new setup. Notice how the original centennial roof still figures prominently into the design of the space.

Here's the building before renovation.

And here's a look at the whole strip. Now, A&P left this strip mall long ago, but that doesn't mean there was never again another supermarket...

Original Grocery Tenant: Wonder Food Warehouse
Address: 380 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA

Opened: between 1975 and 1982

Closed: 1995

Later Tenants: Price Chopper (1995-2010) > medical office

Photographed: November 10, 2018 and March 20, 2021

In the late 1970s, Wonder Food Warehouse -- affiliated with Big D Supermarkets -- moved into what I assume was originally a department store on the far left side of this strip mall. The space was around 40,000 square feet. When Price Chopper acquired Big D in 1995, the supermarket became a Price Chopper (see that link for pictures), then closed in 2010 when a new-build Price Chopper opened about two miles east along Boston Turnpike.

The original supermarket building was either demolished or extensively renovated -- it looks like the new building is about 10,000 square feet smaller than the original supermarket -- starting around 2016, and it's now medical offices.

So this part of Shrewsbury doesn't have any supermarkets anymore, but Shaw's, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods are just to the west (about 3/4 of a mile), and multiple others are just east. On Monday, we'll be taking a look at one of those to the east!