Shaw's - Gloucester, MA

Shaw's
Opened: early 00s

Owner: Albertsons Companies

Previous Tenants: Star Market (1960s-early 00s)

Cooperative: none

Location: 127 Eastern Ave, Gloucester, MA

Photographed: September 19, 2018; June 23, 2021; and August 22, 2025

Contributor: Lars D. and Lucas F.

It's time for our final stop in Gloucester, MA, one of two bigger towns on Cape Ann (along with Rockport). We're 30 miles northeast of Boston here, and just 45 miles northwest of Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod. A drive from Provincetown to Gloucester, though, would be upwards of 150 miles because they're separated by water. Until recently, I'd never been to Gloucester myself. But still, we have very extensive coverage of this Shaw's location. Our contributors Lars and Lucas, who've both sent in many pictures over the years, provide an extensive look at the store in 2018 and 2021. I got to visit myself last summer, and the store was renovated around 2022 -- so we actually get a great before-and-after of this location. A second Shaw's in town, only a mile and a half west, closed in early 2025. A large Market Basket separates these two Gloucester Shaw's.

This store is around 45,000 square feet. There's a large Stop & Shop just south of here, too.

The outside was repainted in the remodel and saw a new sign installed -- not like the strange half-replacement they did in Milford, for instance. The exterior is looking fresh and crisp except for the very obvious remnants of the previous sign's mounting.

Inside, the store had the late-90s decor until its most recent renovation. It appears that this decor was designed by Sainsbury's when they owned Shaw's, as was the subsequent decor.

Produce is in the front-right corner, with bakery and deli behind that on the right side of the store. Meat/seafood are on the back wall, with dairy/frozen on the left side. No pharmacy here, as a Rite Aid-turned-Walgreens was right next door until recently.

The interior is pleasant but I couldn't honestly say it had a lot of personality before or after the remodel. Still, it's nice, and the work was extensive enough that many of the fixtures throughout were replaced. There's also new lighting storewide, and new flooring on the perimeter.

This (before) is definitely pleasant decor, although I prefer the decor package that came after this one such as Webster Square, which I linked above.

There's some interesting history here. This store dates back to the 1960s as a Star Market, then was switched to Shaw's around the early 00s. Shaw's and Star Market were merged into the same company in 1999, and it's possible this conversion happened earlier than the Boston-area conversions because of this older decor package, which by the early 00s had been retired. Then again, we saw a Star Market-to-Shaw's conversion in Hyde Park with this decor. That store has since gotten the same decor package as this location.

I don't know if the layout here comes from Shaw's or Star Market. It's definitely very similar to Shaw's of around 2000, but I would expect bakery to be in the front-left corner here rather than in the grand aisle if it were Shaw's. Then again, Webster Square has bakery between deli and seafood, so maybe there was simply some variation in the setup.

There's a wide grand aisle behind produce with the bakery and deli service counters along the right side, upright refrigerators on the left side, and several smaller islands in the middle.

This decor package also reminds me of Pathmark decor of around the same time.

While the new decor package certainly isn't spectacular, to me it's an upgrade for sure. I don't like this yellow color on the walls before the remodel, and I much prefer the multicolored later version of this decor like Webster Square.

The glass on the service meat counter had broken when I visited, hence the display of Goldfish in front of part of this counter. All indications suggested that this is a well-maintained, healthy store despite being in close proximity to the Stop & Shop and Market Basket. Naturally, the Market Basket is a high-volume store, and I don't know about the Stop & Shop.

Continuing along the back wall, we see that there used to be a butcher service window, which was eliminated in the renovation because service meat is now combined with seafood.

As you can see, the store is bright and clean.

It looks like these meat cases are new. Shaw's has been doing some very extensive remodels lately, and while the stores don't look wildly different, they often have seen nearly all of the refrigeration replaced, a big investment.

Shop the World and natural/organic were in the first few aisles; both departments have been removed in the renovation.

Despite that, I've noticed that Shaw's has actually increased its international selection recently. Under Supervalu and Albertsons, Shaw's and Star Market were never particularly good at international foods.

Interestingly, both Gloucester Shaw's were remodeled recently, including the one that closed. 

It looks like the Shaw's and the CVS have closed in that Railroad Avenue strip, leaving only a few small storefronts still in business. A rumor circulating on social media suggested that the landlord was hoping to clear out the strip mall to redevelop the property into mixed-use including residential, especially given its proximity to the train station. I don't know if that's the endgame here, but it would certainly be a reasonable guess given the closure of the two main tenants. Then again, that existing space is advertised as available.

Doors on older cases in dairy, but all-new freezers in the latest remodel. You can see the work that they're doing isn't exactly flashy, but important to maintain the stores long term.

Dairy lines the last aisle, and it looks like the dairy backroom might actually be on the side of the store here as milk and juice are about halfway down the last aisle rather than in the more typical spot on the back wall.

Milk and juice were previously in an open unit with shelves stocked from behind, but this was replaced in the renovation with a more common, new unit with doors. This previous setup is very old-school -- again, it makes me think of Pathmark -- and not something you see in many supermarkets these days.

I'm not positive whether the cases are still stocked from behind.

Seasonal up in the front-left corner, looking like there probably used to be something else here. I don't believe this store ever had a pharmacy, but maybe there was another amenity like a bank branch.

Now, this area looks a little more intentional. Greeting cards have been moved into this corner, and some seasonal shelves have been installed, giving it the feeling of a real department. The Drive Up & Go area is also behind this corner.

New flooring and signage on the front-end. Notice that, oddly, the checkout lane markers appear to be from a Supervalu-era Premium Fresh & Healthy store (again, see Milford), but there were previously green and orange markers here when Lucas took his pictures back in 2018. So that means these lane markers might actually be secondhand. Or is Shaw's still using this style of checkout lane markers?

One more look across the front-end post-remodel...

Hopefully in the future I'll get to return to Gloucester to see the other two stores in town. But for now, we're headed north along the coast to our next stop in Ipswich. Come back tomorrow to check it out!