Stop & Shop to close 32 underperforming grocery stores; see the list
File: Stop & Shop carriages sit in an empty parking lot outside of one of the grocery stores on April 20, 2019 in Westport, Connecticut. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Regional grocery chain Stop & Shop has announced which "underperforming" store locations will be closing before the end of the year.
Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch supermarket company that owns several grocery chains, said Friday it will close 32 Stop & Shop stores across New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island by November 2.
The company had previously announced that closures were coming "to create a healthy store base for the long term" – a sentiment echoed in Friday's announcement.
"Stop & Shop has evaluated its overall store portfolio and made the difficult decision to close underperforming stores to create a healthy base for the future growth of our brand," company president Gordon Reid said.
Affected employees will be offered other positions within the company, according to the press release.
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What is Stop & Shop?
Stop & Shop, which first opened in Somerville, Massachusetts back in 1914, currently operates around 400 grocery stores and has 60,000 employees.
They are owned by Ahold Delhaize, which also owns the Food Lion, Giant Food, and Hannaford grocery chains, among others.
After the store closures are complete in November, Stop & Shop will operate 359 stores, including 81 stores in Connecticut, 115 in Massachusetts, 47 in New Jersey, 91 in New York and 25 in Rhode Island.
List of Stop & Shop stores closing
Connecticut
- 100 Division St., Ansonia
- 211 High St., Torrington (931 Torringford St., Torrington will remain open)
- 1937 West Main St., Stamford (2200 Bedford St., Stamford will remain open)
- 855 Bridgeport Ave., Milford (1360 East Town Road, Milford will remain open)
- 72 Newtown Road, Danbury (44 Lake Avenue Ext., Danbury will remain open)
Massachusetts
- 932 North Montello St., Brockton
- 36 New State Highway, Raynham
- 341 Plymouth St., Halifax
- 539-571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury
- 165 Needham St., Newton (bfresh Market)
- 415 Cooley St., Springfield (1600 Boston Rd. and 1277 Liberty St., Springfield will remain open)
- 545 Lincoln St. Worcester (940 West Boylston St. and 949 Grafton St., Worcester will remain open)
- 24 Mattakeesett St., Pembroke (125 Church St., Pembroke will remain open)
New Jersey
- 1083 Inman Ave., Edison
- 1049 US Highway 1 South, Edison
- 4861 US Highway 9, Howell
- 1278 US Highway 22, Phillipsburg
- 581 Stelton Rd., Piscataway
- 625 Paterson Ave., Carlstadt
- 1221 State Route 27, Franklin Township
- 130 Skyline Dr., Ringwood
- 505 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach
- 2275 West County Line Rd., Jackson
New York
- 2965 Cropsey Ave., Brooklyn
- 130 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale
- 7 Samsondale Plaza, West Haverstraw
- 294 Middle Country Road, Coram
- 240 East Sanford Blvd., Mt. Vernon
- 132 Fulton Ave., Hempstead
- 2525 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow
Rhode Island
- 11 Commerce Way, Johnston
- 176 Pittman St., Providence (Eastside Marketplace)
Why are the stores closing?
The grocery industry has become highly competitive as Walmart and Amazon have expanded their footprints across the U.S.
Stop & Shop says it’s working to "position the company for growth" by closing stores that are not performing as well as others – especially ones that have not benefited from recent remodeling efforts.
Specifically, Reid noted that recently remodeled stores are performing better than others,
"Since 2018, we have completed more than 190 store remodels, with the customer shopping experience in mind. These stores are outperforming other Stop & Shop stores that haven’t been remodeled. We’re taking these learnings and implementing them at other stores as we build upon our strong foundation," he explained in the press release about the closures.
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Kroger, Albertsons selling off stores
Stop & Shop is not alone in feeling the pressure of competition.
Kroger and Albertsons, who are looking to merge for some of the same reasons outlined above, have now identified 579 U.S. locations that the companies intend to offload from their combined grocery store count.
The planned divestiture of the stores is linked to the grocery giants’ efforts to ease concerns voiced by U.S. regulators over the proposed deal for Kroger to acquire Albertsons.
LINK: See the full list of Kroger, Albertsons stores to be sold