Market Basket

[retailisking]

Penacook, NH residents want a Market Basket, but not the traffic it would draw
http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/324952/plotting-penacooks-path

[retailisking]

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120425/NEWS02/704259963

Market Basket opens in city

By DENIS PAISTE
New Hampshire Union Leader
Published Apr 25, 2012 at 3:00 am (Updated Apr 24, 2012)    

All check out lanes were open at Market Basket's downtown Manchester grand opening.
(DAVID LANE / UNION LEADER)

MANCHESTER â€" Customers lined up even before the doors opened for Market Basket's 460 Elm St. grand opening Tuesday.

The store let them in early, operations manager David McLean said.

Stephanie Pike of Manchester said she used to go to Market Basket in Nashua, then switched to Hooksett when that store opened. The new downtown Manchester site, she said is about 15 minutes closer to home.

“This will last us for a little while,” the mother of 10-month-twins, Axel and Eva, said of her full-to-the-brim shopping cart.

The new store â€" which has 500 employees and 21 aisles spread over 90,000 square feet â€" is the first Market Basket store in Manchester.

President and CEO Arthur T. DeMoulas said at the ribbon-cutting: “It took us 95 years to get here, but we're here and we're excited.”

”We started in 1917, when Demoulas Supermarkets began,” McLean said.

While the business is still called Demoulas Supermarkets Inc., the Market Basket brand has supplanted the Demoulas name on all its stores. But longtime customers still call it Demoulas, said McLean, who has been with the Tewksbury, Mass.-based chain for 36 years.

“We are just humbled by the turnout,” he said. “We thank our customers very much.”

He expected 5,000 to 6,000 customers for the day.

It is Market Baskets's 65th store overall and 28th in New Hampshire. Two more are planned to open within two months in Brockton and Sagamore, Mass.

A Market Basket in Bedford at Donald Street and Route 114 continues to progress.

“The pricing structure is documented by independent surveys as being about 20 percent below the average supermarket, some more, some less,” McLean said. “We were just recognized (by Consumer Reports) as being the top New England chain as far as cleanliness, service, price and perishables,” he said.

Among the longtime customers at Tuesday's opening were Scott and Anna Mugica, now of Manchester, but who met as co-workers at Somerville, Mass., Market Basket, almost three decades ago. Today, their son, Nicholas, 17, is working for the new Market Basket in Manchester.

“We started in Somerville, and Mr. McLean was our manager,” Scott Mugica said. “We met in 1984,” Anna Mugica said, “and now the rest is history.”

“I said to him as we pulled in, we waited 10 years for this,” Mrs. Mugica said.

For the grand opening, about 100 vendors and technicians populated the store. Sal's Pizza, a supplier of dough for Market Basket's brick-oven baked pizza, was helping with set-up.

Freshly made salads and fruit cups are prepared on site, McLean said. The sushi bar is run by a vendor, Niji Sushi. The Manchester store has an on-site bakery, butcher shop and a large fresh seafood section. In New Hampshire, the stores offer beer and wine. The Market Basket Cafe has a seating area with WiFi at the front of the store and serves espresso, latte, fresh orange juice and soft serve ice cream.

Store manager Peter Gulezian, who came to Manchester, from Market Basket in Lee, is a 29-year employee.

“The excitement of seeing the look on the customers' faces, how happy they are that we're finally in the city of Manchester and open for their convenience, I get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing our customers satisfied,” he said.

Store hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

[JimSawhill]

Store hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Not 24 hours???? ???

[retailisking]

Apart from one summer when they experimented with closing one hour later, that's been their hours as long as I can remember. One of the keys to their business model is to limit operating hours to minimize labor costs.

Here in Maine the only discount store or supermarket still open 24 hours a day is the Walmart Supercenter in Farmington. All others close at midnight or earlier. I was spoiled in the 80s when Zayre, Shaw's and Shop 'n Save (plus Purity Supreme over the state line in Rochester, NH) were open around the clock. Those days are long gone. Price Chopper still opens most of its stores 24 hours a day, a throwback to an earlier era.

[retailisking]

Here's a page with some views of the exterior and interior features during the construction phase:

http://nerej.com/54012

[Joeg]

Are they going to expand into CT??

[JimSawhill]

Are they going to expand into CT??

Hopefully!!

[retailisking]

I think Market Basket would expand into Rhode Island or into the Springfield MA market before they would expand into CT. Frankly I think even expanding into York County in Maine (like that vacant Lowe's in Biddeford) would be a more likely prospect.

Market Basket is widely praised by most folks, but they've had some safety issues lately. The following story shows how they're cleaning up their act:

http://stateimpact.npr.org/new-hampshire/2012/05/15/how-market-baskets-changing-worker-safety-rules-after-osha-settlement/

[Scrabbleship]

I think Market Basket would expand into Rhode Island or into the Springfield MA market before they would expand into CT. Frankly I think even expanding into York County in Maine (like that vacant Lowe's in Biddeford) would be a more likely prospect.

I'd rank them York County, then Rhode Island, then Springfield. Stop & Shop's failure in York County makes Market Basket the only real chain that could take on the Shaw's/Hannaford stranglehold there. The number of chains that could take on Stop & Shop/Shaw's in Rhode Island and Stop & Shop/Big Y in Springfield are greater.

[retailisking]

The battle for Bedford continues:

http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20120523/NEWS06/705239920

[retailisking]

Even before the opening, the food fight was well underway...
http://www.enterprisenews.com/business/x1982676714/Brockton-supermarket-wars-to-heat-up-as-Market-Basket-gets-ready-to-open

[retailisking]

Market Basket's real estate arm has proposed a 50-acre retail development anchored by one of its supermarkets
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120615/NEWS/106159822/1237

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by d_fife
I have seen Every Market basket in the chain. I will list the stores, but store number order and will name the opening year and possible opening year and known square feet and if it was renovated or expanded, adn will say if picture is on this board

50.Rochester NH: Rochester MArketplace, Milton RD (1992)

A Loopnet listing says that Rochester MArketplace was built in 1980.  The plaza appears to be owned by DeMoulas so if that store opened in 1992...  something was there before?

[retailisking]

Sure looks like it...

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120802-NEWS-208020352

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/York-County/New-development-plans-emerge-for-Biddeford-shopping-complex/-/9284124/15940936/-/10kggqoz/-/index.html

[Zayre88]

Sure looks like it...

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120802-NEWS-208020352

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/York-County/New-development-plans-emerge-for-Biddeford-shopping-complex/-/9284124/15940936/-/10kggqoz/-/index.html

Can't wait to see what happens...

[retailisking]

Can't wait to see what happens...

Once DSM started making their intentions known about North Conway, Biddeford didn't seem like such a stretch. The proposed supermarket for Biddeford Crossing is 107,800 sq. ft., so it sounds like it would have all the features of their newer stores such as the one in Londonderry. I hope the environmental issues (and Hannaford's lawyers - just kidding) don't sink the project.

[Zayre88]

Can't wait to see what happens...

Once DSM started making their intentions known about North Conway, Biddeford didn't seem like such a stretch. The proposed supermarket for Biddeford Crossing is 107,800 sq. ft., so it sounds like it would have all the features of their newer stores such as the one in Londonderry. I hope the environmental issues (and Hannaford's lawyers - just kidding) don't sink the project.

Right.

I think it should move smoothly given the state of the economy and the fact that the property is already built and was retail before.

The only down sides that I see are these:

1)The store would not be easily accessible and close to the street because it's at the back corner of the property and has to be reached through the small rotary. - But they would have awesome visibility from I-95 where Lowe's had a big sign.

2) Lowe's was a hardware store.  A grocery store will generate way more traffic daily throughout the day. It could be an issue.

3) Maybe Target has an agreement to be the only retailer that can sell groceries in at the Crossing?

4) Hannaford could do what they often do..

Other than that I believe it would be a perfect start for them in Maine with an almost brand-new building.  People are looking forward to get a Market Basket and it will sure be a success.  It would give them a sense of what is the potential in Maine.  Stop & Shop failed in Kennebunk but Market Basket will thrive in Biddeford. 

[retailisking]

Market Basket is moving forward with construction of its Bedford, NH store despite legal uncertainty
http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20120809/NEWHAMPSHIRE1408/120809581/-1/newhampshire

[retailisking]

Moving from its current Somerset Plaza location to the former Sears/Kmart store in the same strip center, that is...
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/971548-196/market-basket-shifting-into-former-sears-store.html

[Zayre88]

Moving from its current Somerset Plaza location to the former Sears/Kmart store in the same strip center, that is...
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/971548-196/market-basket-shifting-into-former-sears-store.html

That not very surprising given what happened in Londonderry.  You can bet that as soon as Kmart closes in Portsmouth the same thing will happen.

[retailisking]

The $11 million redevelopment of the former Lowe's store in Biddeford Crossing has won regulatory approval
http://www.pressherald.com/business/Biddeford-Crossing-to-get-11-million-.html

[retailisking]

Moving from its current Somerset Plaza location to the former Sears/Kmart store in the same strip center, that is...
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/971548-196/market-basket-shifting-into-former-sears-store.html

That not very surprising given what happened in Londonderry.  You can bet that as soon as Kmart closes in Portsmouth the same thing will happen.

I wouldn't put it past Market Basket to move into the Kmart location in Auburn, ME if they close, too. It's located directly across from Shaw's, and at 105K gross square feet it's almost perfectly suited for this kind of redevelopment. There's ample parking as well (seriously underutilized at the moment, as you might expect.) It would challenge DSM's ability to keep it stocked with perishables, but with Shaw's on the ropes the time is ripe for DSM to challenge Maine's longest-lasting grocery institution (founded in 1862) on its home turf. If Biddeford takes off like almost everybody seems to think it will, DSM's continued northward expansion (and the build-out of distribution infrastructure to support it) seems inevitable.

[Zayre88]

Also there is Augusta where a Stop & Shop was planned at the Augusta Crossing.  Most likely it will never happen.  Not many retailers will want to invest in building a new store there but Market Basket could do it and would thrive.  If they reach their goals in Biddeford, the Augusta space in a similar shopping center could become an option.

[retailisking]

No day is complete without news of another Market Basket project! Now they're coming to Revere, MA, not far from their flagship store in Chelsea:
http://www.reverejournal.com/2012/08/29/market-basket-looks-to-locate-at-northgate/

[Scrabbleship]

No day is complete without news of another Market Basket project! Now they're coming to Revere, MA, not far from their flagship store in Chelsea:
http://www.reverejournal.com/2012/08/29/market-basket-looks-to-locate-at-northgate/

This is more necessary than people think. The Chelsea and Salem Baskets are packed almost around the clock and on weekends can become often unbearable and a location between the two will take the pressure off of both locations.

[retailisking]

Good point. Market Basket is one chain where a little cannibalization is a good thing!

[Zayre88]

Will Market Basket ever have a website?

I still do not understand why they don't have one in 2012!

[retailisking]

Will Market Basket ever have a website?

I still do not understand why they don't have one in 2012!

If you've ever been in a Market Basket you'd understand; the decor of even the most-recent locations don't exactly scream modernity... :)

[Zayre88]

Will Market Basket ever have a website?

I still do not understand why they don't have one in 2012!

If you've ever been in a Market Basket you'd understand; the decor of even the most-recent locations don't exactly scream modernity... :)

I almost said that when I posted this!  Even the new stores have that old time supermarket feel.

I like it like that.  But a website would be welcome!

[standa]

Isn't this the Market Basket website?

http://www.mydemoulas.net/