ShopRite of Niskayuna
Owner: ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc.
Opened: 2011
Previous Tenants: Grand Union
Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.
Location: 2333 Nott St E, Niskayuna, NY
Photographed: July 2020
Contributor: Lars D.
Our contributor Lars, who has also brought us a look at the Niskyauna Co-Op and the former Grand Union in this mall, has for us a full store tour of the 54,000 square foot ShopRite of Niskayuna! This store, owned by Wakefern's corporate branch SRS, takes up a building built by Grand Union as a replacement for the 20,000 square foot older store. We have a fairly standard layout, with a grand aisle with produce on the right side and deli/prepared foods in an island to the left. Seafood and meat run along the back wall, with dairy and frozen at the far left end of the store and beer on the front wall in that corner. This store previously had a pharmacy but no longer does, which makes me wonder how it's doing.
You enter and exit through a long foyer that runs almost across the store's entire width.
The store, however, is very nice, with SRS's second-newest decor package.
Except I'm not a fan of the floor(s). The decor is outstanding.
The opposite side of the grand aisle has deli and prepared foods in an island that backs up to the grocery aisles.
Beautiful cheese counter, and Lars says the selection of cheese has expanded here since the store opened -- meaning more choices, but somewhat nonsensical organization. I'm thinking bakery is in the back corner here too.
Looking along the store's back wall with seafood and meat.
Seafood closed for the night. I'm not sure exactly what's going on with that butcher counter, as it looks like the window for special orders has been covered over. Is that just a shade that they pull down at night and when the counter is closed?
Grocery aisle looking great if a little boring!
Brown flooring in the health and beauty aisles.
Frozen foods. This flooring looks much older than it actually is.
Beer here in the front corner in what I'm assuming used to be the pharmacy. And a look at the foyer here before we head out...
That wraps up our tour here in Niskayuna! Make sure to check out my tours of Lagrangeville and Fishkill as well.
They closed the pharmacy here and in the Albany store, but have left them in the others (Colonie, Slingerlands and North Greenbush). Not sure if it is any reflection on the stores in general or just the pharmacies.
ReplyDeleteI can't be certain (since this is the one odd one that is a reused building), but generally the pharmacies have been in the front between where you enter in produce and the customer service past which is the beginning of checkouts. They are pretty small counters with a little room for "consults" and the dietician to use, so that may be part of people not even noticing them there.
That beer in the opposite corner is also standard in the other stores. They are all fairly similar, just that some have a "left" corner entry and others a "right" corner, so the entire layout is reversed depending on which corner is the entry.
No clue on that meat counter - would make sense when it's closed, but it could be more permanent (maybe to keep people from annoying them during the times stuff was low in the months prior, being these photos were from July 2020? ;)
One other note - after Grand Union closed, there was a local operator that opened in the space for a short time (maybe a year or so) - other than that, it was unoccupied the remainder of the time between 2001 (GU bankruptcy) and this store opening.
Thank you for all of the history here!
DeleteAgreed on the pharmacy -- I was wondering the same thing when I read about this in the past. I also agree generally, the SRS stores tend to be similarly laid out although there are minor differences. That seems to be the standard location for the pharmacy.
The only SRS I visit regularly is Clark, NJ, which does have an open meat counter or at least did the last time I was there, so no help there. But I like your theory!
Thanks for that last detail also, do you know the operator's name? I might have it listed somewhere but I doubt it. I can ask my contributor who is a Niskayuna native if he or his family has any idea.
I didn't remember (it was that far back and a short lived attempt), but was able to pull up an article from the Schenectady Gazette that mentions that the plaza was owned by Reginald Scott. I'm thinking he was also the one that did the store - basically when GU went bankrupt and was closing, he was able to keep all the equipment in the store, so reopening it was just a matter of restocking merchandise.
ReplyDeleteThis is the article (you should be able to see a couple free from them)
https://dailygazette.com/2011/03/23/0323stjames/
But definitely confirm that - someone like the original contributor would be more likely to know if that is the correct answer.
Ah, thank you! I'll look into it further.
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