Shaw's and Star Market

[Bdubs]

Stopped in a Shaw's up in New Hampshire last month. I bought an insulated Shaws logo bag to keep our food items cool for the ride back to CT. I laugh to myself every time I take it shopping down here.

[BillyGr]

Shaw's has been out of Connecticut almost 5 years now, but I noticed one of my customers at Hobby Lobby yesterday still had an orange Shaw's Reward Card in her wallet.

There's always the chance that she was just passing through the area. I have Giant-Carlisle, Giant-Landover, Stop & Shop, Weis, Wegmans, Sheetz, Turkey Hill, and Bottom Dollar cards in my wallet.

Shaw's has been out of Connecticut almost 5 years now, but I noticed one of my customers at Hobby Lobby yesterday still had an orange Shaw's Reward Card in her wallet.

Not to mention that you don't even need their card for sales anymore (haven't for a bit now) - I think the only thing it is good for is the online savings/rebates (like Saving Star or UPromise).

[FitchMike26]

While you don't need to use the card to get the sale price, there are plenty of other reasons people still do use the card, like MyMixx savings, other loyalty points, etc.

[MikeRa]

While you don't need to use the card to get the sale price, there are plenty of other reasons people still do use the card, like MyMixx savings, other loyalty points, etc.

I always thought you had to sign up brand new for the MyMixx program.

[FitchMike26]

MyMixx can be linked to your phone number, or existing store card.

There are other programs/incentives that are linked to your card as well.

[BillyGr]

Maybe they didn't communicate that well, as I thought the MyMixx was a separate thing with a phone number as well.  Plus, didn't at least some of the stores offer something when they dropped the card to turn yours in for a free item or whatever?  Not that that would mean people couldn't still have a card (since you get more than 1 when you sign up).

[FitchMike26]

When you "enter your phone number" for MyMixx, it's really no different than scanning your store card. You can scan a store card in lieu of entering a phone number.

There are other programs that run from time to time and revolve around using your store card, too.

[MikeRa]

Maybe they didn't communicate that well, as I thought the MyMixx was a separate thing with a phone number as well.  Plus, didn't at least some of the stores offer something when they dropped the card to turn yours in for a free item or whatever?  Not that that would mean people couldn't still have a card (since you get more than 1 when you sign up).

Acme never had anyone turn in their Acme SuperCard.  At least I know I can use it still.

[ynkeesfn82]

The parent company of Shaw's/Star plan on opening a new 63,000 Sq Foot Star Market in downtown Boston.

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/01/16/star-market-coming-to-north-station-in-boston/

[retailisking]

Market Basket was the final straw for this location which was awkwardly located relative to other retail development on the Route 111 corridor. Hours had been cut in recent times, always a sign of a struggling store. J. Sainsbury opened this store in June 1997. Lasted 18 years, which is longer than I thought it would. I imagine any other potential tenant would face the same issues Shaw's faced.
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/06/03/shaws-to-close-supermarket-in-biddeford/

[Bobsketball]

Why did Albertsons ever buy Shaw's? I'm talking about what happened in 2004, not anything that happened in the decade since then. Wasn't Albertsons already in financial deep sh*t from their acquisition of American Stores in 1999?

[retailisking]

I think the original Albertsons was obsessed with growth at all costs. They quickly found themselves in over their head, and Shaw's suffered tremendously. Then Supervalu entered the picture and things got even worse. Things haven't gotten much better under the current Albertsons regime, but it hasn't gotten much worse, either. One thing that has definitely suffered is capital expenditures on renovations.

[retailisking]

Following the merger of Safeway into Albertsons, Safeway's private label has begun surfacing at various legacy Albertsons banners. It made its way to Acme a few months ago, and now it's turning up at Shaw's and Star Market. The most recent flyer shows the changeover of private label "gourmet" pizza from Culinary Circle (a brand owned by Supervalu) to Signature Select. Likewise, Wild Harvest has given way to Open Nature and O Organics. For now, at least, Essential Everyday is still on the shelves.

[JimSawhill]

I wonder if Shaw's will reappear in Connecticut? I think if if it is, Shaw's might regrow, since those 4 A&Ps are in southwestern CT. If they use Shaw's, they would be a gap between markets. I think it would be nice for Shaw's to retry -and succeed -in Connecticut.

[BillyGr]

I wonder if Shaw's will reappear in Connecticut? I think if if it is, Shaw's might regrow, since those 4 A&Ps are in southwestern CT. If they use Shaw's, they would be a gap between markets. I think it would be nice for Shaw's to retry -and succeed -in Connecticut.

I believe the consensus is that they will be Acme labelled. 
Probably since they'll be fairly close to the other A&P stores (on the NY side) that Acme is also taking over.
Could also be that they figure a new name for the area (or at least mostly - I know Acme had locations in NY years ago, but I don't know that they ever went into CT) would be a better idea than a re-introduction of an old name that pulled out.

It does seem like it would be sensible that if they do good with those 4 stores that they might think of expanding further into the state to "reconnect" the two company divisions.

[AmesNewington]

I wonder if Shaw's will reappear in Connecticut? I think if if it is, Shaw's might regrow, since those 4 A&Ps are in southwestern CT. If they use Shaw's, they would be a gap between markets. I think it would be nice for Shaw's to retry -and succeed -in Connecticut.

I believe the consensus is that they will be Acme labelled. 
Probably since they'll be fairly close to the other A&P stores (on the NY side) that Acme is also taking over.
Could also be that they figure a new name for the area (or at least mostly - I know Acme had locations in NY years ago, but I don't know that they ever went into CT) would be a better idea than a re-introduction of an old name that pulled out.

It does seem like it would be sensible that if they do good with those 4 stores that they might think of expanding further into the state to "reconnect" the two company divisions.

It would be interesting if Acme decided to expand further north in CT. Although I doubt it. If Shaw's couldn't, then they might stick with the more affluent portion of the state where A&P was even able to stick it out while the other stores didn't further north. I still think northern CT could use more choices.

[BillyGr]

The other thing would be if ever, at some point, those who run Big Y decided to sell that chain as that covers a lot of CT and most of Western MA and would fill in most of the blanks between existing Shaw's and Acme purchases with only a minimum of overlap.

Not that that is expected to happen, but should it ever become possible...

[ynkeesfn82]

Here's an example of two separate departments of the newspaper not communicating with each other.

On Page 1 of the October 24th, 1996 Southington Observer the headline reads "Shaw's Supermarket to replace Edward's". The article went on to say they couldn't reach anyone at Shaw's to confirm.

http://southingtonlibrary.org/PDFFiles/newspapers/1996/10_24_1996.pdf

But on Page 19 of the same October 24th, 1996 Newspaper in the Classified Ads section of the paper there is an ad that Shaw's is having an Open House at the Comfort Inn on Laning Street to hire new employees October 21st-October 25th.

[MikeRa]

Here is a list of the current Star Markets

Unknown
Brookline â€" Brookline Star (Albertsons Store #7566): 1717 Beacon Street
Dedham â€" Dedham Star (Albertsons Store #7426): 795 Providence Highway
Lower Mills â€" Lower Mills Star (Albertsons Store #7604): 4 River Street
Marshfield â€" Marshfield Star (Albertsons Store #7594): 1 Snow Road
Quincy â€" Quincy Star (Albertsons Store #7573): 130 Granite Street

Middlesex County
Auburndale â€" Auburndale Star (Albertsons Store #7568): 2040 Commonwealth Avenue(Opened as Star.  From 2000 to 2008, known as Shaw’s.  Reopened as Star in July, 2008)
Belmont â€" Belmont Star Osco (Albertsons Store #7583): 535 Trapelo Road (Opened as Shaw’s Osco)
Cambridge â€" Mount Auburn Star Osco (Albertsons Store #7565): 699 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge â€" Sidney Star (Albertsons Store #7589): 20 Sidney Street
Cambridge â€" White Star (Albertsons Store #7563): 49 White Street
Chestnut Hill â€" Chestnut Hill Star (Albertsons Store #7565): 1 Boylston Street (Opened 7/2008.  Has current logo on front of building)
Newtonville â€" Newtonville Star (Albertsons Store #7561): 33 Austin Street (Opened as Star Market.  Built over the Massachusetts Turnpike.   For awhile, known as Shaw’s)
Somerville â€" Beacon Star (Albertsons Store #7575): 275 Beacon Street (Opened as Star.  From 2000 to 2008, known as Shaw’s.  Reopened as Star in July, 2009.  Has old 1980’s Star Market façade on front)
Somerville â€" McGraff Star (Albertsons Store #7580): 14 McGraff Highway (Opened as Shaw’s)
Waltham â€" Waltham Star Osco (Albertsons Store #7569): 1070 Lexington Street (Opened as Shaw’s Osco)
Nantucket County

Norfolk County
Brookline â€" Brookline Star: 1717 Beacon Street

Suffolk County
Boston â€" Commonwealth Star Osco (Albertsons Store #7588): 1065 Commonwealth Avenue (Opened as Star.  From 2000 to 2008, known as Shaw’s.  Reopened as Star on 8/22/2008.  Has current logo on front of building) (Premium Fresh & Healthy interior décor)
Boston â€" Huntington Star: 53 Huntington Avenue (Opened as Shaw’s)
Boston â€" Kilmarnock Star (Albertsons Store #7576): 33 Kilmarnock Street (Opened as Shaw’s)
Brighton â€" Brighton Star Osco (Albertsons Store #7572): 370 Western Avenue (Opened as Star.  From 2000 to 2008, known as Shaw’s.  Reopened as Star in July, 2008)
Dorchester â€" Dorchester Star Osco (albertsons Store #7587): 45 Morrissey Boulevard
West Roxbury â€" West Roxbury Star Osco (Albertsons Store #: 7577): 75 Spring Street (Opened as Shaw’s Osco)

Worcester County
Medway â€" Medway Star (Albertsons Store #7430): 65 Main Street (Opened as Star.  From 2000 to 2008, known as Shaw’s.  Reopened as Star.  Has current logo on front of building)

[MikeRa]

Star Market, and Star Osco now has 20 plus stores in the Boston area

[retailisking]

Star Market, and Star Osco now has 20 plus stores in the Boston area

Albertsons is trying to reposition Star as their "upscale" banner in the Boston area.

[ynkeesfn82]

The former New Britain, CT Shaw's is now in the process of being converted to a self-storage facility.

http://www.centralctcommunications.com/newbritainherald/article_77962494-a138-11e5-9e41-8bb2ae3e01bf.html

[JimSawhill]

The former New Britain, CT Shaw's is now in the process of being converted to a self-storage facility.

http://www.centralctcommunications.com/newbritainherald/article_77962494-a138-11e5-9e41-8bb2ae3e01bf.html

An old department store (that became an Macy's Furniture) is being made into a storage place.

[retailisking]

Shaw's has introduced yet another gimmick - a gas rewards program (joining other Albertsons banners.) Points can be redeemed at participating Sunoco stations. Good luck finding a participating Sunoco station, though - I couldn't find one within 25 miles of my home!

[Zayre88]

Shaw's has introduced yet another gimmick - a gas rewards program (joining other Albertsons banners.) Points can be redeemed at participating Sunoco stations. Good luck finding a participating Sunoco station, though - I couldn't find one within 25 miles of my home!

Up here, the chain IGA has that kind of gimmick with Shell gas stations.  And guess what, IGA is in trouble and facing stiff competition from other chains.  They have not closed stores but a bit like Shaw's, their prices are much higher than anywhere else.

They are specialists in gimmicks: stamps that you can earn to buy cookware, knives, glassware, gas discount, a free product when you buy a specific amount and lately false price drops (after prices were raised)...   

None of this has meaning when you have to pay more to get it.

[BillyGr]

Shaw's has introduced yet another gimmick - a gas rewards program (joining other Albertsons banners.) Points can be redeemed at participating Sunoco stations. Good luck finding a participating Sunoco station, though - I couldn't find one within 25 miles of my home!

Up here, the chain IGA has that kind of gimmick with SH E L L gas stations.  And guess what, IGA is in trouble and facing stiff competition from other chains.  They have not closed stores but a bit like Shaw's, their prices are much higher than anywhere else.

They are specialists in gimmicks: stamps that you can earn to buy cookware, knives, glassware, gas discount, a free product when you buy a specific amount and lately false price drops (after prices were raised)...   

None of this has meaning when you have to pay more to get it.

Price Chopper has done this (with Sunoco also as it turns out) for a while now in most of their markets.

I do remember that when they first started there were several areas where stations switched brands in order to participate if there wasn't already a Sunoco near a particular Price Chopper location, but it seems it took a bit for that to happen everywhere, so you may see more pop up near Shaw's locations.

Also interesting to see how that works in the couple areas (parts of VT and some of the Worcester MA area) where both chains operate.  This was happening with other places, but in that case it was the Safeway and Albertsons brands so they were the same company, where here you have two different chains working with the same fuel brand.

[retailisking]

I was in Shaw's today and they were going all out to promote their gas rewards program including a sign-up table with a cake decorated with the Sunoco logo. In keeping with the chronic understaffing at Shaw's (and the rest of the Albertsons banners) the table was void of employees.

[retailisking]

Some vintage Shaw's exterior signage in this WCVB story; this Shaw's has since closed and is now a Savers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk2vYxR3yts

[Scrabbleship]

Shaw's will close their Salem, NH store next month. The location is right across the street from a Market Basket and is near a second.

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/salem-shaw-s-slated-to-close/article_78e4248d-61e0-5423-b5e5-e4d2fa4c7b92.html

[retailisking]

Shaw's is becoming the Sears/Kmart of the supermarket business, crumbling a little more with each passing day.