The Market Report

Original Grocery Tenant: A&P Address: 380 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA (362 Maple Ave) Opened:  between 1961 and 1964 Closed:  between 1964 and 1975 Later Tenants:  Finast (?) Photographed:  March 20, 2021 The first supermarket at the corner of Maple Avenue and Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury was this A&P, built (probably) as a centennial store in the early 1960s, per city directories (although it lacks several key details of the centennial stores, it does have the signature roof and, until the 1980s, had the cupola on top). Looking at Historic Aerials, the 14,000 square foot store may date to the late 1950s -- it's hard to say because the imagery cuts off halfway through this property in the 1960s, but the rest of the strip mall had been built -- in which case it could've been built pre-centennial era, and then remodeled later to that design. That would explain the slight differences we see between this and other centennials . I caught the building under constr...

Original Grocery Tenant: Ralph's Wonder Market Address: 95 Lincoln St, Lincoln Square, Worcester, MA Opened:  1950 Closed:  bet. 1962 and 1969 Later Tenants:  Mr. Ralph's Discount Foods > Big Discount Supermarket Photographed:  October 21, 2022 This building of just under 20,000 square feet was built in 1950 housing Ralph's Wonder Market. We've discussed Wonder Market before ; it's a group I don't really have any information on (is it possible that it was once related to Kilroy's Wonder Market in Glen Rock, NJ?) but regardless, by the late 1960s, this building was home instead to Mr. Ralph's Discount Foods (I can only assume ownership didn't change), then Big Discount in 1973 -- which appears to be the same as Big D . The store closed between 1979 and 1985. Up at Brittan Square a couple blocks north, another longtime grocery store recently closed. We'll be checking that out on Monday!

Price Chopper Opened:  1995 Previous Tenants:  Wonder Markets > Big D Supermarket Location:  29 Sunderland Rd, Grafton Hill, Worcester, MA Photographed: November 4, 2018 Even though Worcester doesn't have the chains it once did, like Big D or Iandoli's, there is actually a lot of mainstream supermarket choice in and immediately around the city. Big Y, Price Chopper /Market 32, Shaw's , Stop & Shop, Market Basket , and Hannaford all have a meaningful presence in and near the city. Plus, there are a few independents like Park 'n Shop . There are also a few supermarkets in and around Worcester that are a bit of a time capsule. The 32,000 square foot Price Chopper at Pozzessere Square (does anyone call it that?) where Sunderland and Massasoit Roads intersect is one of those time capsules. It was built between 1957 and 1962 as a Wonder Market ("Sunderland Wonder Market" in 1969 and 1973). It appears that Wonder Market was affiliated with Big D, so my assump...