Stop & Shop
Opened: ca. late 1990s
Jamaica Plain has two large supermarkets, the Whole Foods just west of here and this Stop & Shop. While the Whole Foods opened up in what had previously been a longtime independent grocer, this Stop & Shop appears to have been a new-build store around the late 1990s (after 1996), though it may have replaced another store nearby.
At around 40,000 square feet, it's smaller than most Stop & Shops but larger than the other grocers in the immediate area. This store was one of the latest Stop & Shops in Boston to get the recent remodels, which were completed here last spring.
So although the store has been cosmetically updated since these 2019 pictures, the bones appear to be exactly the same. It looks like the renovation was largely decor. You enter to the grand aisle on the right side, with produce facing natural foods and deli on the right side. Meat and seafood are on the back wall with frozen and dairy on the left side. Bakery is in the front-left corner. There's a pharmacy next to the entrance, too.
Natural foods in the front-right corner, now used as an expansion for the produce department. I love the flooring here!
This was also relatively early in Marty's tenure with the company, so I was very amused to see him roaming the aisles.
Floral and customer service to the right as you enter, with pharmacy to the left. This specific entrance setup is a bit unusual, but the rest of the store is fairly standard.
The pharmacy was closed on a Saturday evening when I visited, but it's not permanently closed.
Deli and prepared foods on the right-side wall of the store.
This store seems to have been kept up very well since it opened, like many of the locations in Boston. The suburbs -- and certainly New Jersey -- haven't been so lucky.
I mentioned on the Whole Foods post that there didn't seem to be any attempt at customization of the store, which there definitely was here in the Stop & Shop. It actually has an entire aisle of Latin American foods, which you can see has specific category markers at the top. That appears to have been a relatively recent change when I visited, given the style of the category markers.
Lately, Stop & Shop has been expanding their international foods, especially in the New York City stores. They've added Global Market departments with pretty hefty international selections. It's a great addition, but not present in most locations.
Notice the slanted ceiling, which is typical for stores of this model. This is the typical store model of around this time.
Frozen foods and dairy on the left side.
This decor package was looking pretty good here, although I don't particularly love this decor in general.
Bakery in the front-left corner.
And here's a look across the front-end...
Before we leave, we see a couple of branding issues. For one, the self checkout prompted me to donate to "Charity Charity", and then said you could donate to "the following charitable organization" with nothing below.
And as you exit, there's a few generations of logos on the signs. I assume these have probably been replaced given the logo change again.
Opened: ca. late 1990s
Owner: Ahold Delhaize
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: none
Location: 301 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA
Photographed: June 15, 2019 and July 12, 2019
I got strong Pathmark vibes from the strip mall the store is in. It doesn't help that the building isn't built with a typical Stop & Shop exterior -- I don't recognize this model, so I don't know whether that was custom for this location or perhaps another chain was intended to be here originally that Stop & Shop took over later.
And that wraps up our look at Jamaica Plain! Tomorrow we'll check out several of the small independent grocers across the neighborhood. Come back to check it out!
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