Shaw's - Merrimack, NH (Daniel Webster)

Shaw's
Opened: ca. 2000

Owner: Albertsons Companies

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: none

Location: 570 Daniel Webster Hwy, Merrimack, NH

Photographed: July 2, 2026

Welcome to Merrimack! This town of around 30,000 is a suburb located between Nashua and Manchester (so we're just five miles south of the Kilton Road Hannaford here). Like Kilton Road, this is a roughly 70,000 square foot supermarket, and Shaw's built this store around 2000. It was a new store when it opened, possibly replacing another location in town but I don't know where that might be. Now, it's one of two Shaw's in Merrimack, which are also the only two supermarkets in town. Possibly because of the lack of competition, Merrimack is a serious time capsule when it comes to the supermarkets.

Yep -- this Shaw's has hardly changed a bit since opening day around 2000. That's awesome for us retail enthusiasts, but it's definitely not a good thing in general. This was the first Shaw's I'd been to in many years that felt downright bad -- dingy, dated, and in surprisingly bad repair. Shaw's stores aren't typically particularly beautiful, but they tend to be kept up extremely well. This one felt like it was hanging on by a thread.

It also is way too large, especially for an apparently low-volume store. The layout is standard for Shaw's of around this time, with produce in the front-right corner, deli in the rest of the first aisle, and meat/seafood at the back. Meats line the rest of the back wall, with frozen and dairy on the left side. Bakery, pharmacy, and floral are in the front-left corner.

Yep, this store is about 30,000 square feet too big and about 15 years out of date...

There's a very short list of Shaw's out there still left with this decor (if there even are others), so this was a real shock to me. It's even a generation older than this similar, but newer, decor package. Spoiler alert: that's actually the decor that's in the other Shaw's here in Merrimack, but while it still hasn't been renovated around two decades after its opening, it's in far better shape than this store.

With Shaw's closing so many stores over the years, I just have to wonder how this one has continued to stick around. Are they just trying to keep out Market Basket or Hannaford from Merrimack? Is a much larger remodel slated for the future? Is it waiting out a lease?

I'm amazed that there's even still a pharmacy here. Many low-volume supermarkets close their pharmacies, but both Shaw's in Merrimack still have fully functioning pharmacies.

It looks like there was once a walk-in floral cooler here, which is now mostly disused. Floral displays are across from it.

Crazy to see a time capsule like this! Of course I hope this store is modernized because it needs some updating, but I'm also glad that I got to preserve this when it still had its original decor. Come back tomorrow for a look at the other Shaw's in town!