Shaws closing stores

[storewanderer]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/12/ ... hampshire/

Gloucester - Railroad - remodeled cheaply into a Jewel looking decor a couple years ago. Before that, had pre Albertsons Shaws interior.

Concord - Fort Eddy - Supervalu interior.

[buckguy]

The Gloucester stores are not far from each other, although the one that's closing is more central. Not a huge distance between the Concord stores, but the one remaining is in what appears to be a major shopping area and the one that's closing is in a more densely populated if more central location. I wonder if these were purpose built pairs or products of past mergers/acquisitions.

Here's a relatively complete article w/o a paywall: https://www.boston25news.com/news/local ... WE6TW27O4/

[marketreportblog]

@storewanderer Thanks for posting this, I meant to do it but was busy yesterday.

The two Shaw's in Gloucester are fairly close together -- under a mile and a half -- and between them is a larger and higher-volume Market Basket. The property of the Railroad Ave store was sold in 2022, and the rumor currently going around on social media is that the new owners want to redevelop it to denser residential units (related, some say, to this controversial initiative). So it's not particularly a surprise, although I do think this is the first Shaw's to close that was renovated post-Supervalu with this decor package. It's the standard Shaw's decor -- Jewel-Osco and Shaw's (many of which are still branded Shaw's-Osco) use the same decor.

The Concord one is extremely close to multiple other supermarkets, including two Market Baskets, a Hannaford, and a local food coop. I was in Concord just a couple months ago and now I'm kicking myself for not making it to this Shaw's.

Generally, Shaw's seems to be doing solidly these days (the majority of their stores I've been in lately have been in excellent condition and generally okay to busy). I think the days of Shaw's being dead in the water are over, but they're still holding on to some stores that definitely are struggling, or are in bad shape.

[storewanderer]

@storewanderer Thanks for posting this, I meant to do it but was busy yesterday.

The two Shaw's in Gloucester are fairly close together -- under a mile and a half -- and between them is a larger and higher-volume Market Basket. The property of the Railroad Ave store was sold in 2022, and the rumor currently going around on social media is that the new owners want to redevelop it to denser residential units (related, some say, to this controversial initiative). So it's not particularly a surprise, although I do think this is the first Shaw's to close that was renovated post-Supervalu with this decor package. It's the standard Shaw's decor -- Jewel-Osco and Shaw's (many of which are still branded Shaw's-Osco) use the same decor.

The Concord one is extremely close to multiple other supermarkets, including two Market Baskets, a Hannaford, and a local food coop. I was in Concord just a couple months ago and now I'm kicking myself for not making it to this Shaw's.

Generally, Shaw's seems to be doing solidly these days (the majority of their stores I've been in lately have been in excellent condition and generally okay to busy). I think the days of Shaw's being dead in the water are over, but they're still holding on to some stores that definitely are struggling, or are in bad shape.

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

[retailfanmitchell019]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

[pseudo3d]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

Considering that Shaw's was bought in 2004 and that store was likely well into the construction process that makes sense.

[storewanderer]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

I think Larry was quite impressed with Shaws and how it did things so it makes sense it got to keep the interior. Recall they quickly lifted the Shop the World and Wild Harvest programs from Shaws and rolled those out selectively and quickly elsewhere.

But under Supervalu all bets were off... what more could one expect from the same company that decorated Jewel Stores with Albertsons clovers on the walls?

[marketreportblog]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Yes, no doubt that Shaw's has improved pricing. Overall prices are adequate to good, and with sales and coupons, they can be really low. Here's an example I came across recently: Sargento cheese, sliced or shredded. ACME reg price $4.49 on sale $3.99. Stop & Shop reg price $5.99 on sale $3.99. Shaw's reg price $4.49 on sale $3.99 with digital coupon $1.97. It seems to me that generally regular pricing is lower than S&S and sales are much better, in line with significantly lower-priced competitors like Hannaford and Market Basket. In my big price comparison from January, Shaw's came out $20 less than Stop & Shop -- not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Anecdotally, I know of a family who lives in Beverly, MA, near Salem. Beverly has a Shaw's and two Stop & Shops. For years, they shopped at Stop & Shop, but around 2021, they switched to Shaw's -- and, from what they heard from their friends and neighbors, a lot of the town made the same switch around that time. When I visited the Beverly stores, which I haven't posted yet, it couldn't have been clearer. The Shaw's was newly renovated and very crowded, and one Stop & Shop -- down the street from the Shaw's -- was completely desolate and still sporting its ca. 2005 decor. The other one, across town, had only marginally more people but the saddest part was that it was during their grand reopening. The poor people giving out free samples were practically begging me to take them because there was nobody in the store.

Another anecdote: Market Basket opened in Shrewsbury, MA in 2023. One Stop & Shop nearby closed the following year, the other one seems to be dying a slow death. Shaw's in Shrewsbury renovated instead, and when I visited the store recently it was the busiest I've ever seen it.

Agreed on your other points. Albertsons 1.0 basically only owned Shaw's for a year and a half before Supervalu. Supervalu appeared to write off Shaw's and all but erased Star Market.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

I think Larry was quite impressed with Shaws and how it did things so it makes sense it got to keep the interior. Recall they quickly lifted the Shop the World and Wild Harvest programs from Shaws and rolled those out selectively and quickly elsewhere.

But under Supervalu all bets were off... what more could one expect from the same company that decorated Jewel Stores with Albertsons clovers on the walls?

Exactly. There weren't even that many Shaw's to get PF&H 1.0 and 2.0, but a lot got 3.0 (probably because it was cheap and could fix up a lot of the then-aging but not that old stores). And if I'm not mistaken, Wild Harvest and Shop the World actually originated with Star Market, then filtering into Albertsons via American Stores (which owned ACME, Jewel, and Star Market).

If you're interested in seeing more of Shaw's and Star Market, I'm going to be posting a lot over the next couple months! I've photographed and will post 19 of the 21 Star Markets, and I have about 20 more Shaw's to post soon.

[veteran+]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

Interesting.............

The walls look so bare.

[ClownLoach]

I haven't paid much attention to Shaw's lately. Have they improved pricing? Or is the situation something where Stop & Shop is bleeding off customers to the point that even Shaw's can pick some of them up?

Shaw's wasn't a bad asset when Albertsons bought it, and I would argue the original Albertsons did not own it long enough to do much/any damage to it. But it seemed to really fall under Supervalu and not do much in the initial years after Safeway.

Shaw’s (which was bought from Sainsbury) wasn’t fully integrated into Albertsons.
Case in point: I’ve looked at @marketreportblog lately. He toured a Shaw’s in Groton, Massachusetts (a Boston suburb), which opened in 2005. You’d think that store would have the Jewel Marketplace or Broadway (Larry) interior. No, it has a Shaw’s interior.
https://www.marketreportblog.com/2025/0 ... on-ma.html

Interesting.............

The walls look so bare.

Terrible looking stores. Costco looks more interesting.