Star Market - Waltham, MA

Star Market

Opened: ca. 2015

Owner: Albertsons Companies

Previous Tenants: Star Market (ca. 1960 - early 00s) > Shaw's (early 00s-ca. 2015)

Cooperative: none

Location: 1070 Lexington St, Waltham, MA

Photographed: March 5, 2025

Alright, let's see. Friday's Star Market looked like an ACME, and this one sure does look like a Shaw's. It wasn't built as a Shaw's -- it was built around 1960 as a Star Market, but became a Shaw's in the early 00s under Sainsbury's. At that time, the store was expanded and extensively remodeled in the Shaw's sensibility. It returned to Star Market pretty late, around 2015.

It was renovated again then, and has gotten some small updates since then. Much like Belmont, the store is absolutely immaculate. Check out the flooring and lighting as we tour the store.

These produce fixtures are also pretty new. You can see the updated black promotional signage on the walls, too.

While Belmont is basically the same as a 90s-era ACME, this one is an early-00s Shaw's in all ways except the sign on the front and the style of decor inside. Produce is in the front-right corner, with deli and prepared foods on the back half of the right side wall of the store. Meat and seafood service counters are in the back-right corner, with meat and dairy on the back wall. Frozen, the rest of dairy, and HABA are on the left side of the store with bakery and pharmacy in the front-left corner.

This store's pristine condition is all the more impressive given that I visited at around 9:00 at night. This is the only supermarket in the northern part of Waltham, with a Hannaford, a Market Basket, and a Shaw's in the southern part of town. Per Placer.ai, this store and the Hannaford do a brisk business, the Shaw's does slightly less, and the Market Basket (naturally) gets nearly as much traffic as those three combined.

This store lacks the extensive prepared foods of many Star Markets given that it was designed as a Shaw's.

Meat and seafood departments at the back of the grand aisle.

This store generally has slightly fewer high-end features than many Star Markets, including a smaller cheese department as you can see a bit of above. Still, it's a very nice store.

The flooring hasn't been replaced in the rest of the store, but check out how pristine it is.

Lots of cases of all ages here, but it looks like all have been freshly painted and some have new doors added.

We're about four miles northwest of Watertown here, which is where Star Market started.

These freezers look brand-new.

At around 60,000 square feet, this store is pretty big but not unusually large.

It feels just about the right size, as it doesn't feel overly cramped or limited, and doesn't feel too big. Albertsons Companies tends to prefer stores slightly smaller than some of their competitors.

Bakery and pharmacy in the front-left corner of the store.

Now, this is very interesting. Remember how I said I was here late at night? I was checking out the HABA department and noticed the lights in the pharmacy were still on. Believe it or not, this pharmacy is actually open 8am to 10pm on weekdays and until 6pm on weekends. I definitely can't think of too many other supermarket pharmacy departments that stay open that late, so they must do a solid business here to keep it open that late.

Notice also that it isn't Osco branded, although the Osco sign is still on the outside. Looking back over towards dairy on the left side of the store...

...and a look at the front-end from the pharmacy/bakery corner.

Again, check out how immaculate the entire store is! That's all for now, and tomorrow we're off to a store that sadly is not in nearly as good condition a couple miles northwest.