597 Centre St, Brockton, MA

Original Grocery Tenant: Brockton Public Market

Address: 597 Centre St, Brockton, MA

Opened: 1950s

Closed: ca. late 1980s

Later Tenants: assorted non-grocery tenants

Photographed: July 6, 2019

In the late 1980s, a new Super Shaw's opened at the Crescent Plaza in eastern Brockton. The chain moved from their 1950s-era location on Centre Street about half a mile north. The original location, here in a strip mall that's now very quiet, opened as a Brockton Public Market, later branded as BPM Grocers and then eventually Shaw's.

Part (or maybe all?) of the roughly 20,000 square foot former supermarket later appears to have become a movie theater, which closed by the time I visited the property in 2019.

Interesting that the pitched roof is also visible inside, even though there's a drop ceiling.

I don't know what this store's layout would've been, but perhaps the produce department was here on the left side.

The storefront is clearly an old supermarket. A Dollar General, which recently closed, was also located here in this strip mall, along with a liquor store, an adult day care center, and a Home Outlet (previously called Grossman's Bargain Outlet).

Around back, it's also clear that the building was originally a supermarket.

I assume the second-floor windows here were for offices and break rooms.

This building has certain similarities to ACME's pitched-roof stores of the 60s, but I assume that's purely coincidental. Shaw's and ACME today share an owner, but that's a relatively recent development, several decades after this store was built. I don't know if there were other BPM stores built in similar styles, but I haven't encountered any that are still operating as Shaw's.

The Grossman's Bargain Outlet (now Home Outlet) also looks like it could've been a grocery store, but it wouldn't surprise me if BPM and a department store, in this spot, were the original tenants of this strip mall.

One great surprise before we move on from this location -- I'm pretty sure there's actually a photo of this store! Check out this side-by-side comparison of a picture of a BPM Grocers store, to the left, and this location on the right. I'm almost positive that they're the same building.

These historical photos are not my own, but were posted in the Shaw's in Shrewsbury, MA before it was renovated. What I have here is just my photos of those pictures on the wall.

But the similarities to this building are too significant to ignore. The picture above was simply captioned "BPM Grocers" and the picture below had a small card saying "Brockton, MA, 1980s."

This store was then rebranded to Shaw's by the late 70s. Today, Shaw's headquarters are in West Bridgewater, the next town south. Tomorrow, we're headed about a mile and a half due west for another Brockton homegrown store!