Big Y
Opened: October 2, 2025
Remember the town of Uxbridge, MA? It's been a little while, but it's home to a Hannaford (formerly Victory Markets) that I posted a year ago. That store got a renovation in 2023, possibly in advance of this Big Y. It's one of the relatively few recent new-build supemarkets of any brand in southern Worcester County -- we're about 20 miles southeast of Worcester here -- and the 55,000 square foot store is one of two central Mass locations to open this year (see Westborough here). Big Y has been giving a big push towards renovations and new store construction, meaning that the vast majority of their store fleet are new and modern. That coupled with a particularly good program for local and specialty merchandising, a great perimeter, and improving prices has made Big Y a very powerful regional chain these days. While their stores have never been bad in my experience, there's a big distance from the Big Y of 2018 -- my first time in a Worcester-area Big Y -- and the Big Y of today.
Located a mile and a half -- about four minutes' drive -- from the Hannaford, this Big Y is definitely now its most direct competitor. The Big Y is much more modern, and a bit larger. It has a larger selection, including a lot more specialty products than the Hannaford, though it's also definitely more expensive.
You enter to the grand aisle on the left side, an expansive collection of perishables. Floral is between the entrance and the registers, with bakery, prepared foods, and deli lining the left side wall. There's a cheese island behind produce, with service meat and seafood counters at the back of the grand aisle. Dairy lines the rest of the back wall and continues down the last aisle, along with frozen foods on the right side. HABA is in the first aisle, and as seems to be the standard for new Big Ys, there's no pharmacy here. (Plenty of Big Y stores have pharmacies, but it does seem like the majority of their new locations are opening without. That's not unique to Big Y -- a number of chains forego pharmacies in their new stores these days.)
The bakery includes a coffee shop, although it's self-service.
Big Y has significantly improved its perimeter offerings in particular over the last several years. The selection and quality of baked goods is quite good these days, and there's a widening gap between Big Y and some competitors like Stop & Shop in bakery quality and, actually, the quality of all the perimeter departments.
Sushi, sub sandwiches, and pizza are along the left-side wall, followed by grab-and-go prepared foods and the deli.
Big Y has been aggressive enough on remodels lately that there's not even all that much difference between a newly-built one like this and a decades-old store like this one in their hometown of Springfield.
There are just under 100 Big Y locations these days in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
It's clear the intent here is to position the store as higher-end than the nearby Hannaford or Shaw's, but it's still a full-line supermarket.
The Hannaford nearby still had some signage up from its grand reopening -- or else new signage that suggested grand reopening without saying it -- with phrases like "we're celebrating you, Uxbridge!" and "plenty to love!". That's probably intended to keep their customers interested despite the new Big Y opening. It's hard to tell if the Big Y will have an impact on the Hannaford. Hannaford is smaller and older, but quite a bit lower-priced. It's possible that ultimately there won't be a lot of overlap in the customers.
A look across the back wall of the store. Notice that there's a drop ceiling over the grocery aisles, but an open ceiling around the perimeter.
HABA in the first aisle...
The grocery aisles are orderly and well-stocked, probably thanks to the fact that the official grand opening was 10/16 and I visited on 10/14, when it was still in the soft opening phase.
Some interesting observations in the grocery aisles. A careful look at these price tags will show the left two are products distributed by UNFI, while the right one comes from Bozzuto's. As far as I know, Big Y uses Bozzuto's as a primary supplier (they also partially self-distribute), but UNFI for specialty and natural foods.
For what it's worth, an equivalent jar of organic capers at the Uxbridge Hannaford is $4.49, per their website; a similar package of stuffed grape leaves is $5.99; and the same jar of roasted bell peppers is $2.69.
Some more observations: some jars of Essential Everyday pickles from UNFI next to Food Club relish (from Topco via Bozzuto's). This was my first time seeing Essential Everyday in a Big Y. No salt added bread & butter pickles at Hannaford are $2.19 for a 16 oz jar of the storebrand, and 16 oz of storebrand sweet relish is $1.99 at Hannaford. So there's still a significant price difference in certain products.
In other products, there's a significant price difference between Big Y and... Big Y. Full Circle organic ketchup from Bozzuto's at $2.99, Woodstock organic ketchup from UNFI at $5.29. The equivalent at Hannaford is $2.19.
Dairy and frozen foods are on the right side of the store, along with an independently-owned liquor store.
This is not owned by Big Y, so it's a separate storefront divided from the supermarket but accessible only from the supermarket.
A look across the front-end...
This is an attractive, well-appointed store. The various reviews online I've seen so far tend to respond positively to the store, but there's also plenty of people noticing higher prices. But Big Y is a successful chain and doesn't compete primarily on price, so that's also definitely not a dealbreaker. Plus, Big Y is a local chain of 100 stores; Hannaford is owned by Ahold Delhaize, one of the largest supermarket chains in the world with nearly 8,000 stores. It's only logical that Big Y would have higher prices. It's also only logical that they'd be better at things like local produce and grocery items, which they had a large selection of in this store.
There's also a cafe on the front wall beyond the registers. The large windows are a nice feature here.
Opened: October 2, 2025
Owner: D'Amour family
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: none
Location: 250 S Main St, Uxbridge, MA
Photographed: October 14, 2025
And that wraps up our look at this brand-new store! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more...
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