Update: Shaw's - Beverly, MA

Shaw's
Opened: early 00s

Owner: Albertsons Companies

Previous Tenants: Zayre > Ames

Cooperative: none

Location: 71 Dodge St, Beverly, MA

Photographed: May 16, 2026

We return to the Beverly Shaw's to check out their remodel! I didn't even know this store was being redone, so thanks to Bloggerman who commented on the original post tipping me off. I visited this store in May of this year, but he says that the remodel occurred in 2023 or 2024. I haven't been able to pin down an exact date, as there doesn't appear to have been a grand reopening, and even finding pictures of the remodeled store online has been challenging. That's particularly a shame given that this is a unique Shaw's...

...having received what appears to be a New England-specific version of the Layered Marketplace decor that's gone into several west-coast Albertsons Companies stores (and possibly also a cousin of this decor). It looks like that decor sprouted up during the Kroger-Albertsons merger talks, possibly to be used on Albertsons stores post-merger or possibly just as an experiment, but regardless, it doesn't seem to have made it beyond a few locations. Only one Shaw's has this decor package to my knowledge. Subsequent remodels have been with the more standard Shaw's decor -- that is, the one that was removed here in Beverly -- and a new store in Marlborough, MA actually uses Safeway decor. Go figure.

You can tour the whole Beverly Shaw's at the link above, but just for a side-by-side comparison, I've included the "before" pictures here too. This way, we can see just exactly what's been done to this location. Not a whole lot was changed here other than the decor -- the store is still relatively newly remodeled, so not a lot was necessary.

Okay, I'm gonna say it: I don't like this decor. It has some potential, like the fun Beverly mural in the entranceway, but it just gets muddled and messy in the supermarket itself. There's fun and unusual features like this hanging wooden beam structure thingy in produce (and another one on the front-end), but they don't stand out enough to have any real impact. I've never been in an official so-called Layered Marketplace store, but that decor seems to be rather more successful, as is the ACME decor I linked above.

It's not bad decor, to be sure. But there's a lot on the walls that just doesn't stand out. Higher ceilings (or dark ceilings, for that matter) would help it pop.

That said, decor aside, this store is looking great. When I visited, it was meticulously clean and well-stocked -- and by the way, these pictures were taken around 9 pm on a Saturday.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the previous decor either, but it was simple and it got the job done. The new decor barely registers...

...though, in isolation, the signs aren't bad. I'm all for slightly funky signage like this one, but it doesn't work in every facility. (This is how you do it.) On the other hand, Shaw's seems to agree with me. A recent New Hampshire remodel sits in safe territory with the familiar decor package, and here's a look at Marlborough -- it may as well be a Safeway, but at least it looks crisp and fresh.

Part of the problem is that the typical Shaw's decor package is designed to refresh older stores, whereas it feels like this decor would work best in a new or significantly-remodeled location. But it falls flat in an older store like this.

Again, though, I think everybody's on the same page and this decor package is done for (already). Remodel aside, maintenance here has been great. And I do like the aisle markers a bit more than the rest of the decor...

No change up front at the Starbucks.

And the grocery aisles are fairly similar, too, although the flooring has been replaced.

Is the turtle my neighbor?

The feeling of this decor, too, is closer to what I've seen in Kroger-owned stores. There, too, they tend to design decor packages that work great in new stores but only moderately well in refreshing old stores.

The Stop & Shop just up the street doesn't appear to have been remodeled since I photographed it, by the way. 

And given that this store had been so recently redone, I do wonder why it was chosen as a test for this decor. It does seem to be a fairly high-volume store, but hardly in need of a renovation.

Here we start to get into some more appealing design (to me, anyway), with the red stripe providing some much-needed contrast.

Drive Up & Go is green here for some reason, and appears to have been relocated between customer service and bakery. I'm not sure, but I believe it was previously on the other side of customer service.

The front end was fully decked out for the spring and summer folks (this store is just over two miles from the coast, after all), but the seasonal clutter along with the general blandness make the hanging trellis over the registers completely disappear. It's not unattractive, but if it hardly even shows up, why bother installing it? I'd rather see this decor making its way into more stores, which unfortunately also doesn't seem to be the case.

That's all for this Shaw's, and thanks again to Bloggerman for the tip that it got this unusual remodel. Enjoy the rest of summer break!