Stop & Shop
Opened: 2001
I moved to Boston for work in the summer of 2019, which is when I took most of these pictures. But I had family who lived just outside the city, so back in 2014, I came to Boston to visit them -- and I distinctly remember visiting this Stop & Shop. It was quite nice at the time, and it was still nice if aging by the time I visited in 2019. It's the largest supermarket in the area, although at just 43,000 square feet it's on the smaller side for Stop & Shop stores of this era. It opened in late 2001, and although I had originally assumed it was a replacement for the older Stop & Shop store just around the corner, it turns out that store actually closed at least 14 years before this one opened.
The supermarket was part of a redevelopment plan for the lower-income area of Grove Hall, right on the border between Dorchester and Roxbury. (Some call this Roxbury; I would call it Dorchester.) Grove Hall's Mecca, the complex that includes this Stop & Shop, was originally slated to be anchored by a smaller, roughly 15,000 square foot Foodie's Urban Market -- a local operator that today has two stores, one in South Boston and another in the South End.
The Stop & Shop is set up in typical late 90s/early 00s fashion, with the original decor package still very intact at the time of my 2019 visit. The grand aisle lines the left side of the store, with deli and prepared foods on the left side, seafood at the back, and produce on the right side. Meat and dairy line the back wall, with frozen and the rest of dairy on the right side. Bakery is in the front-right corner, and there's no pharmacy here.
This Stop & Shop was renovated in 2022, adding features like a community room and a dietitian. But cosmetically, the store still looks essentially like it did when I visited, just with new gray walls. The flooring wasn't replaced and most of the fixtures appear to be the same.
This definitely seems to be a high-volume store. Notice the substantial service seafood department and butcher counter (which may or may not still be open).
I don't mind this decor package, although I like the one that came after it in the mid-00s much better. Still, it's a pleasant enough interior.
Notice that the aisle markers had been replaced when I visited, but the decor hadn't been changed yet. The aisle markers from this decor package look like this. That's from Edison.
Although it went more than 20 years without a full remodel, this store didn't feel neglected at all. It felt well taken care of, and busy.
Dairy begins in the back-right corner, then lines the right-side wall of the store.
It looks like some of the preliminary renovation work may have begun by the time I visited, such as the new aisle markers or painting the refrigeration here black. It looks like most of the refrigeration wasn't replaced in the renovation, but painted black for a fresh look. The category markers you see here in dairy and frozen are from this decor package.
Looking back over towards the produce department. Even the ceiling is in good shape here with minimal stains or missing tiles or anything, and that's a clear way to tell the store has been maintained well.
A look down the last aisle of the supermarket, with dairy on the outside and frozen facing...
And bakery is in the front-right corner. I don't love the setup with the lower ceiling over bakery, but I must say the decor here is fantastic.
Customer service appears to be in an unusual spot at the front of the grand aisle, rather than on the front wall beyond the registers as most stores of this model would have it. You can also see another quirk of this particular location: there's a separate entrance and exit door on the grand aisle side. Typically, both would be located where the exit is here, to the left of customer service. Instead, you walk directly into the grand aisle, which I prefer. There's another set of entrance and exit doors at the other end of the front-end, and those are in the usual setup.
And a look across the front-end. Notice that, in a very unusual setup for this type of store (see Grafton for comparison) there are windows across the front. Typically, you'd see customer service, offices, and sometimes a bank branch beyond the registers across the front wall. Here, the registers immediately face a row of windows. Again, I prefer that setup, but it's uncommon for stores of this era.
Owner: Ahold Delhaize
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: none
Location: 460 Blue Hill Ave, Dorchester, MA
Photographed: June 2, 2019
That's all for this Stop & Shop and the long-gone one just around the corner, and tomorrow we're going to take a look at the various independent grocers of Dorchester!
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