Super 88 Market
We're kicking off our (very short) look at Malden with a tour of this supermarket just a bit south of downtown, and it's the second of two Super 88 Market locations still in business today. The local chain declared bankruptcy in 2009, and since then has downsized a bit with just this location and the Allston one still operating.
This store was planned back in 2004 but didn't come to fruition until its 2007 opening. The 30,000 square foot supermarket was actually a new-build by Super 88, and I don't believe there was previously another grocer on the property.
You enter on the right side of the storefront to the produce department, with meat in the back-right corner. Dairy and other refrigerated foods line the back wall of the store, with seafood and frozen foods on the left side.
The building -- like the Allston location -- is pretty no-frills, with no real decor or focus on design. It feels more like a converted older building than a purpose-built one that's not quite 20 years old (and was closer to 10 years old when I visited). It's not dirty or rundown by any means, but it doesn't have the feeling of a new store.
Butcher window at the back of the produce department. No service butcher counter here.
Looking back up towards the front of the store...
One of the things, too, that might make this store feel older than it is, is that some of the fixtures might have been secondhand when it opened. I'm not certain, but some of them (especially the refrigeration) look older to me than 2007.
There are a number of other supermarkets in the immediate area, including a Stop & Shop just a couple blocks north that we'll tour tomorrow. An ALDI, another Stop & Shop, and a Wegmans are just a mile southwest in Medford with a Trader Joe's and another Stop & Shop beyond that in northeastern Somerville. Foodland, a South Asian grocery store, is about seven blocks south of here, a Japanese market is about five blocks north, and a larger store called 99 Asian Supermarket is a little under two miles east.
Looking back over to the right side of the store...
Lots of spices here, in large jars! The main focus is Asian groceries but there are small sections for mainstream American groceries and some other international foods, especially from Latin America.
Frozen foods are in the last two aisles on the left side of the store, with seafood in the back-left corner.
Seafood is the only department that really gets any decor, with this wave structure over the service counter. I like it.
In the front-left corner of the store is a homegoods and kitchenwares department.
And a look across the front-end...
Out back was a fun surprise -- check out this old Purity Supreme truck! You can read more about Purity Supreme here. Notice that the font on this trailer matches some of the department signage in that former Purity Supreme.
Opened: 2007
Owner: unknown
Previous Tenants: none
Cooperative: none
Location: 188 Commercial St, Malden, MA
Photographed: July 26, 2019
That wraps up our look at Malden's Super 88, and tomorrow we're headed to the Stop & Shop just north of here. See you next year!
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