Finast/First National Stores/Edward's

[TRJ22487]

Originally posted by CTAmeshopper
in 1994 we used to have a Finast in Winsted, then later on it changed to Edwards then around 2000 they changed to Stop & Shop. It used to have low hanging lights that connected together to form horizontally hanging squares,it was so cool. They were arranged to surround food and the cash registers.  These light squares stayed around until that Stop & Shop renovated around late 2005 to it's current look today. Sadly, today the lights are gone  :(

I know the plaza you're talking about, my grandparents live in Winsted. I remember back when it was Edwards there was a travel agency in that plaza called 'Getting Off'

I remember the IGA in the middle of the downtown section. I'm sure that's long gone. My favorite place in Winsted was the old Toy Works on the outskirts of town past the Ames, and the old Age of Video before they moved to their current location in Winsted, it used to be in this ancient building on the corner by the Gulf station (my grandparents live just past there on Spring street)

We had an Edwards in Keene, New Hampshire that closed in the early 90's. I'm unsure of the location though, whether it was currently where Shaws is or where Staples/TJ Maxx is

[Caldor1999]

this stop and shop in larchmont/mamaorneck was an edwards till around 1996 or 2000 idk whitch year

[CTAmeshopper]

Originally posted by TRJ22487

I know the plaza you're talking about, my grandparents live in Winsted. I remember back when it was Edwards there was a travel agency in that plaza called 'Getting Off'

I remember the IGA in the middle of the downtown section. I'm sure that's long gone. My favorite place in Winsted was the old Toy Works on the outskirts of town past the Ames, and the old Age of Video before they moved to their current location in Winsted, it used to be in this ancient building on the corner by the Gulf station (my grandparents live just past there on Spring street)

We had an Edwards in Keene, New Hampshire that closed in the early 90's. I'm unsure of the location though, whether it was currently where Shaws is or where Staples/TJ Maxx is

Nope, it STILL there! surprisingly! it's called the IGA Winsted Super Saver, however it has recently remodeled to a more cleaner look though.

I also remember the Toy Works it was so small there wasn't even a games section!!!!:insane: it had a color pokedotted facade on a white wall,it was so old looking even when I went there!!!! that stores gone but the building is still there,there's now a antique shop housed in that building now.

BOT, I remember there used to be an small Edwards in Waterbury where the new ShopRite is located, I think it used to be located where AJ. Wright is,it's probably not the original building though.

[jmcnamara96]

Were there any in NH  or just MA

[Valerie]

My mom used to shop at the Edwards in Westfield, Ma when I was little. My aunt recently sent me this picture, which kind of made me laugh.

[Six One Heaven]

There's a long defunct one!

[TRJ_22487]

Were there any in NH  or just MA

Definitely. Keene, NH had an Edwards where Petco/Dollar Tree now is. I think all the NH ones closed years before the Connecticut area though.


From Siteride.com pics taken 1997.

Many of these had already become Stop & Shop by 1998 and had outdated and updated pictures from '98, like this one
Secaucas, NJ (Mall and Outside enterance)


And then in 1998 when Edwards had folded it looked like this


Bridgewater, NJ


East Brunswick, NJ (Toys R Us changed the logo the next year)


Metuchen, NJ


Jersey City, NJ


Clifton, NJ


Union, NJ


Westfield, NJ


Shrewsbury, NJ


Baychester, NY


Coram, NY



East Islip, NY


Woodside, NY


Maspeth, NY


Oceanside, NY (two locations, first was already closed/closing, second became Stop & Shop in 1998)




Inwood, NY


Lake Grove, NY


Levittown, NY


Massapequa Park, NY (1997 & 1998 - Same clock tower different angles)

[acme style]

Cool pictures of former Edwards stores. A far superior chain to Stop and Shop. I was devastated when they announced the rebranding. FYI: the rebranding did not occur in 1998. It began in 2000.

[RoleModel]

Stop & Shop ruined what they had with Edwards, and it took until just the past few years for them to rebound. In the early 2000's, Stop & Shop in the metro NY area was ridiculously expensive and had stores that just looked old. Then they replaced or remodeled a lot of their stores into the last two decor styles (the first being the earthy-colored Super Stop & Shop decor, the second being the new logo stuff which looks nowhere near as good as the previous style) and lowered their prices. Around the same time, A&P went to crap so they were able to get into a good position around here.

They should probably take a page out of their sister chain Giant-PA and include more innovative things in their stores.

[TRJ_22487]

Cool pictures of former Edwards stores. A far superior chain to Stop and Shop. I was devastated when they announced the rebranding. FYI: the rebranding did not occur in 1998. It began in 2000.

You could be right, they went out in the early 90's in my area so I'm a bit foggy when the rest of the chain went out for good, but I really do seem to remember the one in my grandparents town being rebranded in 1998 and not 2000...I had thought it was the same time all Toy Works were becoming KB Toys... I could certainly be off though hell I was just a child...albeit a child with a good sense of chronology. It was cool to see all of those pictures of the defunct chain. I miss em. The last thing I ever bought at an Edwards was a bouquet of flowers for my grandmother on Mother's Day. A month or two later we went back to visit and the store was rebranded. Once in a while if Age of Video (which may or may not exist anymore) didn't have a SNES game I wanted to rent we would usually check to see what Edward's had...I miss the mid 90's when seemingly every grocery store had a videogame/movie rental section

[jmcnamara96]

I saw a movie called New Jersey Drive from 1995 and inthe backround was a Edwards super food store the movies based out of Newark NJ

[BillyGr]

Thought there was a post about this but I couldn't find it.

This is a former Finast store in Chatham, NY - it was taken over by Fays (now Eckerd) when they bought out a local store (Millers drugs) and moved to this (larger, but still smaller than a new) store.

Some further information on this store - the Finast closed on March 17th, 1994 (at this time the new Grand Union in town was opening the next day).  They, however kept the Edwards in Latham open (the only other store of the company I know of them having in the greater Albany area).

Dunco Realty (A Great American subsidiary) somehow, but not sure how it happened had the lease on the building (the building was owned by Robert Trotta of Millerton Supermarket, which may have some connection since that one was a Great American).

They mentioned the possibility of Great American opening a store in there (which never happened) - they were also looking at a potential plaza to be built in town around the old train depot (this was never built).

Then in September 1995, the store was opened by a local owner (James Liles) as the Chatham Supermarket through a sublease with Great American.

He was planning to stay at least a year to 18 months, to see if business would pick up (even though it was slow to start).  However, on October 13th, Great American filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Liles decided to close, since he was having enough problem paying for the sublease, which was less than half the cost that Great American was paying to lease the site and saw no way to remain open if he had to go to the owner for a new (and much more expensive) lease.

As noted above - later on the building was taken over by Fays, became Eckerd and is still open as Rite Aid today (since it's the only drug store in town) - I've not heard of any plan to build or enlarge (the store is about 7,00 SF and Fays added a drive thru to the side).

[ynkeesfn82]

Last Sunday I found an unopened can of FINAST brand coffee mixed with the bottles and cans left for recycling in the break-room at the Shoprite in Southington, Connecticut. I brought it home with me.

Back story Finast/First National opened in 1983 (or was that 82?). They were taken over by Edwards. In 96 the Southington Edwards (along with a few others) were sold to Shaw's. I transferred to that Shaw's in 2004 and the manager had the unopened can of Fianst coffee on her bookshelf. She was fired in 2005. Shaw's closed in October 2006. The Drusts began remodeling the building into a Shoprite in February 2010. Shoprite opened November 2010. March 2012 I found the can of coffee. Where has that can of coffee been since 2006? If cans of coffee could talk.

[Pikapower]

Tops used to use the "Finast" name for their health and beauty products from the mid 1990s to 2002.

[retailisking]

We had a number of Finast stores, including a Finast Big Buy store in the Portland (ME) Shopping Center (the other anchor in that center was Arlans.) They pretty much left the area by the early 80s. In the 1970s they were pioneers in using scanners at the checkouts. I have an old bottle of antiseptic from the time when Ahold owned the chain.
http://idhistory.com/rca/Finast%20Supermarket%20Framingham%20-%201st%20UPC%20checkout.pdf

[MikeRa]

Tops used to use the "Finast" name for their health and beauty products from the mid 1990s to 2002.

So did GIANT [PA]

[JimSawhill]

There's a long defunct one!

Finast (fka First National) was not that long defunct. Finast got merged into Ahold, but those stores were nice at the time. (East Hartford had 3 Finasts in the 1960s. One was at School Street and Ellington Road, another was in downtown East Hartford and the third was on Silver Lane (which became Top Notch Foods, a small local chain.) )

[Bdubs]

The Finast on Ellington Rd eventually became an Edwards, which then changed over to a Big Y which closed a few years ago.

Not far from there was an Edwards in South Windsor, now a Stop & Shop. Not sure if that was ever a Finast orignally.

[JimSawhill]

The Finast on Ellington Rd eventually became an Edwards, which then changed over to a Big Y which closed a few years ago.

Not far from there was an Edwards in South Windsor, now a Stop & Shop. Not sure if that was ever a Finast orignally.

Where Big Y was...That used to be Mammoth Mart, then Mars. Finast was at the other end...(I think it is a Family Dollar now). The Plaza had Mamoth Mart, Cut and Curl, a barber shop, AC Peterson's, Aubouon (sp?) Hardware, Rexall Drugs and Finast, with a Connecticut Bank and Trust in the parking lot.

[Everything Community]

I found this pantry gem from the 80's while cleaning kitchen pantries in my home. Still has oregano intact.

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