Grand Union

[store215]

I came across pictures on an auction site of the Storrs, CT store
http://www.grafeauction.com/auction_detail.php?id=194398

It looks like it was a former A&P...everything down to the isle signs looks like it was unchanged during its time as a Grand Union (I imagine this opened after the real GU went out of business?)

[AmesNewington]

I came across pictures on an auction site of the Storrs, CT store
http://www.grafeauction.com/auction_detail.php?id=194398

It looks like it was a former A&P...everything down to the isle signs looks like it was unchanged during its time as a Grand Union (I imagine this opened after the real GU went out of business?)

The Storrs CT GU opened in the spring/summer of 2003. That was when A&P sold a good amount of Foodmart locations in CT, MA, and VT to other chains. Many of them became Big Y, but the newly formed Grand Union Family Markets took over a few of them. They took over the Rocky Hill Foodmart in 2003 and didn't last even a full year. Stop and Shop quickly snatched that store up. I can't remember which other A&P stores they took over, but Storrs was definently one. I hate when people think it was an A&P, though. It was really Waldbaums/Food Mart. A&P bought Waldbaums, which was probably already there. I may be wrong.

Those aisle signs are 100% A&P signs though. The register lights too. It's sad to see GU close up there. Probably the department signs too.

[Joeg]

The Storrs CT store was an A&P from its beginning.  The store opened sometime in the 70's.

[AmesNewington]

Wow, after looking at the photos, GU did nothing to keep this store clean. It looks so dumpy. The shelves are black and the fresh depts like Meat look disgusting. It's amazing the store was allowed to operate that way. A nice little grocer could completely renovate the interior of the building and open a store there.

[RoleModel]

Wow, after looking at the photos, GU did nothing to keep this store clean.

So they treated it like A&P?

(to be fair, there are good Waldbaums in my area and then there are bad ones - most of the bad ones have been closed)

[nysw3636]

Interesting, but sad, to see that Storrs, CT(closed?) and Nantucket, MA are closing. No word on Millerton, NY closing or being bought/taken over. Hannaford still in the mix...

[AmesNewington]

Interesting, but sad, to see that Storrs, CT(closed?) and Nantucket, MA are closing. No word on Millerton, NY closing or being bought/taken over. Hannaford still in the mix...

So Millerton, NY is still open as a C&S Grand Union? They are running it independently? Any details?

[retailisking]

They are still open as a Grand Union at the moment. Who knows what their future is...

[AmesNewington]

They are still open as a Grand Union at the moment. Who knows what their future is...

I am wondering what kind of sales they are running. Can they borrow marketing material from Topps?

[BillyGr]

I am wondering what kind of sales they are running. Can they borrow marketing material from Tops?

I'd assume the sales haven't changed - they are the only grocery store in town (other than a convenience store or two) and the nearest other stores I can think of would be Amenia (a Foodtown/Freshtown, which is also a former GU, I think?) or over into CT (maybe Canaan and the Stop & Shop or one of the smaller towns may still have an independent store)?

Therefore, the ads are probably not that big of an issue (not trying to draw customers to that store vs another one down the street).  Even if they want one, they could put it together fairly simply (after all, many single or small stores do).

[retailisking]

A number of distributors have support programs for the supermarkets they supply in terms of setting up promotional programs, flyers and the like. Our local indie uses Bozzuto's IGA program with some local mods:
http://umbrellafactorysupermarket.com/flyer.html

[Scrabbleship]

I am wondering what kind of sales they are running. Can they borrow marketing material from Tops?

I'd assume the sales haven't changed - they are the only grocery store in town (other than a convenience store or two) and the nearest other stores I can think of would be Amenia (a Foodtown/Freshtown, which is also a former GU, I think?) or over into CT (maybe Canaan and the Stop & Shop or one of the smaller towns may still have an independent store)?

Therefore, the ads are probably not that big of an issue (not trying to draw customers to that store vs another one down the street).  Even if they want one, they could put it together fairly simply (after all, many single or small stores do).

Closest independent market, that is if someone hasn't finally filled the former Trotta's space in Sharon, are Labonne's in Salisbury and Peck's in Pine Plains. Both are small and everyone there drives to Canaan/Great Barrington/Rhinebeck & Red Hook/Kingston for big shoppings anyway.

Besides GU and Freshtown, Millerton gets the circulars for Stop & Shop, Big Y, Price Chopper, ShopRite, and Hannaford.

[AmesNewington]

I am wondering what kind of sales they are running. Can they borrow marketing material from Tops?

I'd assume the sales haven't changed - they are the only grocery store in town (other than a convenience store or two) and the nearest other stores I can think of would be Amenia (a Foodtown/Freshtown, which is also a former GU, I think?) or over into CT (maybe Canaan and the Stop & Shop or one of the smaller towns may still have an independent store)?

Therefore, the ads are probably not that big of an issue (not trying to draw customers to that store vs another one down the street).  Even if they want one, they could put it together fairly simply (after all, many single or small stores do).

Closest independent market, that is if someone hasn't finally filled the former Trotta's space in Sharon, are Labonne's in Salisbury and Peck's in Pine Plains. Both are small and everyone there drives to Canaan/Great Barrington/Rhinebeck & Red Hook/Kingston for big shoppings anyway.

Besides GU and Freshtown, Millerton gets the circulars for Stop & Shop, Big Y, Price Chopper, ShopRite, and Hannaford.

Well, what type of flyer does GU get in Millerton? I am curious as to what version they get. Is it the one on the current GU website?

[nysw3636]

I managed to get a flyer for the Millerton Grand Union Family Market for the time 12/30 to 1/5. I compared it with a few other GU Markets viewed online for that same period and the Millerton flyer is WAY different on sales...

[retailisking]

I managed to get a flyer for the Millerton Grand Union Family Market for the time 12/30 to 1/5. I compared it with a few other GU Markets viewed online for that same period and the Millerton flyer is WAY different on sales...

Any chance you could scan and post it?

[nysw3636]

I will try to scan it tonight. My main computer is having hard drive issues, so I'll do my best.

[retailisking]

No rush; I was just wondering how it was different from before (and from the Tops-operated stores) and I'm sure I'm not alone!

[nysw3636]

Sorry for late reply. My computer died but, using daughters computer. Here is a picture from my daughters webcam. I have access to weekly flyers from Grand Union Millerton and when my main computer is back in operation I will scan it for better picture. This picture is from flyer 12-30-12 to 1-5-13. Hope it's okay.

[retailisking]

Thanks! Though that's still one butt-ugly logo... :)

[gu4ever]

Thanks! Though that's still one butt-ugly logo... :)

Agreed... The new logo is super cheap looking! The red-dot logo was amazing for that time period. And the font that was used on the store sign and on all interior signage was very unique for that time period.
Did anyone ever determine the font that Grand Union used for it's marketing back in the day?

[BillyGr]

Update - Happened to check out the ad today for the store closest to us and saw that it says Your store will soon be TOPS.

So I checked through the ads - looks like 9 of the 21 stores will change to the Tops name (at least at this point):

Greenville, Hancock, West Coxsackie, Hoosick Falls, Stamford and Tannersville in NY, plus Rutland, Northfield, and Hardwick in VT (the only 3 VT stores). 

However the other 12 stores do not mention this change - these seem to be the Adirondack stores that had the Tops name once before (Ausable Forks, Bolton Landing, Chestertown, Corinth, Elizabethtown, North Creek, Peru, Saranac Lake x 2, Schroon Lake & Warrensburg, plus Northville).

Must be some logic to it?

[Caldor1999]

Heres the Grand Union in the Beach Shopping Center in Peekskill NY back in Oct 1998

this became stop & shop and the building was latter demolished in 2004 and rebuilt as a larger stop & shop

[JimSawhill]

Heres the Grand Union in the Beach Shopping Center in Peekskill NY back in Oct 1998

this became stop & shop and the building was latter demolished in 2004 and rebuilt as a larger stop & shop

It looked like a new building. How many Grand Unions are left??

[BillyGr]

It looked like a new building. How many Grand Unions are left??

Based on the ad changes (as mentioned at the top of the page) there will be 12 left (for now) with the Grand Union (Family Markets) name - plus perhaps the one in Millerton that Tops didn't buy (until something else takes it over).

The Peekskill store is different than I've seen - it has a variation on the sloped roof that was common on some of the stores, but also the white block and green lettering which reminds me of the former store here in Valatie (and Tannersville) - perhaps a remodel or addition to an older store at some point?

[Caldor1999]

It looked like a new building. How many Grand Unions are left??

Based on the ad changes (as mentioned at the top of the page) there will be 12 left (for now) with the Grand Union (Family Markets) name - plus perhaps the one in Millerton that Tops didn't buy (until something else takes it over).

The Peekskill store is different than I've seen - it has a variation on the sloped roof that was common on some of the stores, but also the white block and green lettering which reminds me of the former store here in Valatie (and Tannersville) - perhaps a remodel or addition to an older store at some point?

from what i could find i believe this shopping center opened in 1967 it could have been a grand union that got remolded stop and shop did use this building for awhile before it knocked it down to build a larger store

[gu4ever]

For those of you that know me here on the forum, I had shared the story of shopping at Grand Union when I was just a little kid back on the old forum profile page. Well here is the picture I have long been waiting for... The actual red and white aisle marker that ran through the center of the store identify what aisle you were in and what you might find  in that aisle too. Also there are some Grand Union in store graphics used talking about different services and values of the red-dot.
Notice a portion of the aisle sign is actually lit from behind. This created a very bright "glowing" white number and lettering with contrast to the vibrant red sign. The lighting also brought life to featured item pictures used on the aisle sign through out the store (not seen in photo). A great example would be the Seal Test ice cream advert from the Swanton, VT store in the frozen food aisle.
**Inside Info** about the aisle marker:
When I actually had a chance to speak with a former store manager of Grand Union, I found out that very often portions of this great fixture would remain in darkness due to it's poor design and difficulty getting to the actual lighting fixtures enclosed to replace burnt out light bulbs.

[AmesNewington]

What year is that from?

[gu4ever]

What year is that from?

This was taken in the 80's. It's a location in the NJ market.

[retailisking]

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/morning_roundup/2013/07/tops-puts-name-to-12-northern-ny-stores.html

The Grand Union website now redirects to this page on the Tops website:
http://www.topsmarkets.com/newstores/new_stores/

Nobody answers the phone of the Millerton store, so that appears to be the end of the line for Grand Union. :(

[JimSawhill]

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/morning_roundup/2013/07/tops-puts-name-to-12-northern-ny-stores.html

The Grand Union website now redirects to this page on the Tops website:
http://www.topsmarkets.com/newstores/new_stores/

Nobody answers the phone of the Millerton store, so that appears to be the end of the line for Grand Union. :(

Grand Union had a store in Newington where Best Market is located now...across the street was the redemption center for Triple S stamps!!  RIP Grand Union!!!   :(