Star Market - Chestnut Hill, MA

Star Market
Opened: 2009

Owner: Albertsons Companies

Previous Tenants: none; Star Market previously on property (1950-2008)

Cooperative: none

Location: 1 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill, MA

Photographed: August 2, 2019

The Chestnut Hill Star Market is without a doubt one of the chain's flagship stores, and the only other one I would say is up there with it is the newest location -- at North Station in Boston. This store was a ground-up build, opening in 2009 on the site of a demolished Star Market that had opened in 1950 and closed in 2008.

In a somewhat unusual setup, the supermarket is actually on the second floor of this property. There's a row of storefronts under the supermarket, and in the back is additional parking and loading docks under the Star Market. All told, the supermarket appears to be just under 50,000 square feet.

I believe this was the only new Star Market to open under Supervalu, which pretty much just maintained the status quo with Shaw's and Star Market they inherited from Sainsbury's, the previous owners. Sainsbury's seemed intent on converting all of the Star Markets -- except for a handful here in the western suburbs, such as this one -- to Shaw's, which Albertsons undid. Over the next couple weeks, we'll also see a couple stores where Supervalu was actually the one to switch back to Star Market from Shaw's.

Now let's take a look inside the store! As we can see right away, it's pretty spectacular. And if you can believe it... this store hasn't actually been renovated since it opened in 2009. For a store that's over 15 years old, it's still looking all but brand-new. (Incidentally, I didn't realize until I started writing this post that this decor package was that old -- I thought it was introduced at the very end of Supervalu's ownership or the very beginning of Albertsons' ownership, but it's about five years older.)

Floral is here on the first floor, and then a set of staircases and escalators bring customers up to the second-floor supermarket and back down again.

The grand aisle is the main focal point here, taking up much of the left side of the supermarket. An unusually large assortment of unusually large service and specialty counters line it, with a Starbucks and a cafe, bakery, and a noodle bar and sushi at the front. A massive prepared foods counter is in an island behind that, with deli on the same island as the noodle bar and sushi. A large cheese counter is at the back of that island, with produce at the back of the grand aisle. Service meat and seafood counters are at the back of the grand aisle, with packaged meats lining the rest of the back wall. Dairy and frozen are on the right side of the store, with milk in the front-right corner. For all of its deluxe touches, this store doesn't have a pharmacy -- possibly because there's a CVS in an outparcel of the mall.

You can see similarities to the Premium Fresh & Healthy 1.0 decor package in the department signage (that's Shrewsbury prior to its recent remodel), which was Supervalu's signature decor package. Still, this decor package -- and the services and offerings that come along with it -- are far more premium than the average Supervalu-owned store, and I was really surprised to find that Supervalu was the one to initiate this store. It feels so far ahead of what they were doing in their other stores. To Albertsons' credit, though, they've continued to execute it exceptionally well.

The noodle bar -- a feature I'm not totally sure survived the coronavirus here, although I know it did in at least one other location -- featured noodles and vegetables that could be made to order in a stir-fry or soup.

You can see that no expense was spared in the construction of this store, and it's also clear it's been maintained meticulously since opening. It's just down the street from a Wegmans that we'll be touring next, but that store opened a good five years after this one was rebuilt. It's possible Star Market got wind of Wegmans' intentions early, though, and rebuilt this store in anticipation of theirs coming soon. The Wegmans was initially slated to open in 2013, but was delayed until the following year. But I don't know when it was initially planned or announced.

It just makes you think, though -- how many Wegmans killed mediocre ACMEs under Supervalu? Or ShopRites, for that matter? Or Market Baskets killing Shaw's? Why wasn't Supervalu able to execute stores like this more consistently? Pricing is often considered a major factor in the Albertsons' stores struggles, but premium stores like this don't necessarily need to compete on price. On the other hand, this is Star Market's home territory where there's a lot of brand loyalty to them, and those other brands didn't necessarily have that advantage.

Pizza and prepared foods behind that. The pizza oven is a fantastic centerpiece of this island!

And the expansive produce department is at the back of the grand aisle.

Here, too, you can tell that this is a top store for Star Market. Check out how well-stocked all the produce is, and how nicely arranged the whole department is.

It's been over 10 years that Star Market and Wegmans have coexisted here, so I'm betting this store does just fine. I assume that if it was struggling, it would've closed already. All indications suggest it's doing well.

Meat and seafood are up next on the back wall between produce and packaged meat. Again, quite the display here and you really get the sense you're in a premium store.

Packaged meats are to the right of the service butcher counter.

And opposite that, at the back of the deli island, is a massive cheese shop.

Bulk foods are in the first aisle, although as I've mentioned on other Star Market posts I don't know if this survived the coronavirus.

A look across the back wall. One big positive about the store's unusual setup is that some backroom space appears to be on the first floor -- under the store rather than behind it -- so there are lots of perimeter windows letting in lots of light.

Looking back up the grand aisle...

We transition to a drop ceiling (and some interesting Supervalu-era category markers) in the grocery aisles.

The grocery aisles are split in half because of the store's shape. There are more aisles in the front half than the back half, given the grand aisle's layout.

Frozen foods and dairy are in the last few aisles. Below, we're looking back over towards the grand aisle...

I love the decor (and especially the lighting) here! We open back up to an exposed ceiling here in the last aisle. Incidentally, this was the first supermarket in the country to use all-LED lighting inside and outside.

Milk is in the front corner, a somewhat unusual place to see it. We'd typically see pharmacy here, but this store doesn't have a pharmacy.

And a look across the front-end, looking over towards the grand aisle on the right side. Notice the angled checkouts, which we've seen at another Supervalu-built store -- the ACME in Bryn Mawr, PA.

And that's all! We head out down the stairs or escalator (I think there's also an elevator) and that wraps up our look at this spectacular Star Market.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday for a look at the Wegmans nearby!