TOUR: Stop & Shop (closed) - Acton, MA

Stop & Shop

Open: 1996 - December 13, 2024

Owner: Ahold Delhaize

Previous Tenants: Finast

Cooperative: none

Location: 100 Powder Mill Rd, Acton, MA

Photographed: May 11, 2023 and December 16, 2024

Welcome to the old Stop & Shop in Acton! This store was built in the early 1980s, but appears to have originally been a Finast, later becoming a Stop & Shop when Ahold -- which owned Finast at the time -- bought Stop & Shop in 1996. At just over 30,000 square feet, this is a relic, far from the type of Stop & Shops we're used to seeing. And last December, it was replaced with a new store occupying part of a former Kmart two and a half miles north, closing the day the new store opened.

But let's tour the original Acton Stop & Shop before its closure! Customer service was in the front-right corner, with produce on the right side. Deli and seafood were in the back-right corner, with meat on the back wall. Dairy and frozen were on the left side, and the bakery was in the front-left corner.

The store wasn't unattractive, but it certainly wasn't attractive, either. The all-gray renovation (which is typically paired with some wood texture for the department signage, but isn't here) isn't doing the store any favors, but it's not unpleasant. Maintenance at the store seems to have been really good, and other than the size, it doesn't feel that old. It looks like this store previously had the Super Stop & Shop decor package of the late 90s/early 00s, before receiving a renovation around 2018.

It must have done a solid business, though -- enough to replace the store rather than simply close it. And even the service seafood department here made it to the end. Countless Stop & Shops lost their service seafood departments over the years.

The grocery aisles feel pretty normal for a Stop & Shop, but you can tell the store is smaller and the selection is a bit abbreviated. The new store is around double the size of this one.

In another sign this store must do alright, there's a service butcher counter (although you can see it's not particularly full) -- but once again, many (most?) Stop & Shops don't have service butchers.

Dairy begins on the back wall and continues down the last aisle of the store.

Some of the fixtures are clearly older, but I didn't notice any that were in really terrible repair. I got the distinct sense that Stop & Shop has taken care of this store despite its small size over the years.

And there's even an in-store bakery in the front-left corner. No pharmacy, of course, but there's a Walgreens next door.

Browsing social media, it seems the response to the move is mixed. Some are ready to visit the new store, others are disappointed the convenient, smaller location is gone. I think it makes sense for S&S, a chain not particularly skilled at running small-format stores, to replace this one.

One more picture, this one from our contributor Andrew K., who visited the store just after it closed on December 16.

Don't forget to check out the new store here. There's another grocer about 3/4 of a mile southwest of here, where we're headed tomorrow!