The Slow and Painful Death of our Local Stop & Shop Supermarket

Sadly, this is neither a trick nor a treat

We read about store closures and chain stores going out of business all the time. If you’re not impacted directly you may barely notice that it’s happening or if you are aware maybe you can muster a “gee, that’s too bad” -- if you’re feeling generous. If it happens in an area you live in you get the usual opinions shared about what a shame it is. Sometimes you even get enough outrage and support from locals to have a positive impact and on occasion you may see some locally owned stores rescued from closing. The story today is not about one of those local mom and pop stores that is beloved by the community. Today I’m focusing on one store in Howell, NJ that will be shutting its doors for the final time at - get this...3pm on Halloween.

The Particulars – courtesy of Wikipedia

The?Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as?Stop & Shop, is an American regional chain of?supermarkets ?located in the northeastern?United States . From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide.[Wikipedia]

On July 12, 2024, Stop & Shop announced the closure of 32 underperforming locations as part of a plan to improve the company's financing. The company faced serious competition from other nearby grocers and high rising costs, which caused the decision to close some of its stores. The 35 closing stores will close on or before November 2, 2024.[Wikipedia]

Stop & Shop is owned by a bigger conglomerate that operates a few other chain supermarkets. The one I'm most familiar with is Hannaford, as there are a couple in upstate NY, and I've taken my mom grocery shopping there on a few occasions.

An Unusual Path to Closure

It’s not like I went through the five stages of grief when I found out the news. Each week when I went grocery shopping the place was never busy, so finding out it was closing was more like "what took you geniuses so long to determine this place wasn't cutting it"? I live in NJ (for some of you that may be reason enough to grieve!). Our state is so densely populated that I cannot move in any direction without driving by a supermarket. In fact, I once went into a Shop Rite in a nearby town and the footprint of the store was almost an exact duplicate of one I had been to in another town. In fact if you helicoptered me into the store I’m not sure I would even know which town I was in. So, while you wonder, “what is this guy whining about? Just go to another store”. Absolutely! I think that would be a fair view. But, selfishly speaking, they were closing MY store. Sure, once the announcement was made I continued to do our weekly shopping there. But, as time has marched on the company has made a decision to ween down its inventory on some items – products are being consolidated, replenishment of anything other than produce is not happening, and I’m not quite sure how you would even do your weekly grocery shopping at a store that seems to be counting the days to closure. I’ll admit that I don’t get the strategy. They could certainly move the merchandise to other stores that are remaining open and just close this store – and put all of us (employees and customers) out of our misery.

Much Like a Highway Accident I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of It

On a recent Monday night I opted to go to the other "big dog" retail grocery store chain -- Shop Rite on Route 9 South in Howell – less than a mile away from the Stop & Shop I'm talking about. Call me sentimental or curious, but I wanted to see what the Howell store looked like. I’m not sure why it was even open. Just a few cars in the parking lot, enough employees to run the store – and one employee so bored that she was on a bench inside the store reading a book! If the customers feel tortured by their shopping experience I can only imagine what the employees must be feeling. At least the customers get to leave. The employees have to finish their shifts!

Just this week I stopped by, again, not because I needed to purchase anything, but more out a morbid curiosity (kind of like the grim reaper lurking in the shadows) The store has become a super-sized convenience store. See the picture below:

I have to give them credit. The store still looks clean and organized - and more organized and less cluttered than the major retail stores in our local Freehold Raceway Mall.

What is the loss about?

I had to think long and hard about this, and I've summed it up in three points.

1. Change in my routine - I need to find a new store, and possibly pick alternate products. Maybe I'll have to drive further, but maybe I'll find a place I like more than this one.
2. New store layout - With a change in routine comes a new store, and a new store means it's going to be laid out differently. Again, more change.
3. Missing some of the people I became familiar with - I didn't develop any friendships, but I do feel for the people that will have to either get a new job or transfer to a different store. Change can be challenging for all of us, but as they say - when one door closes another opens.

Grocery Store Roulette

Yes, I’m auditioning grocery stores. The most likely choice is another Stop & Shop in a nearby town. Wherever I end up it can’t be worse than grocery shopping during the Covid years. I would visit three stores on the same trip just to find the items we were used to purchasing.

If any of you are affected by the 31-34 other stores that are closing I just want to let you know that I feel your pain.

The good news is that I'm just shopping for my wife and me, so how difficult can that be? (lol)

Have a great weekend!

Dave

About David Shultis

For the lion's share of my career I have been a B2B marketing and product management professional. In July I took on a new role as a Customer Success Manager for a small 3PL fulfillment company (www.gofetchfulfillment.com ) in Lakewood, NJ. I'm looking forward to applying my knowledge and experience to the role, and I anticipate doing some writing on their behalf.

You can still find me biking in and around New Jersey (or other states on occasion), as well as trying to get my walking in with a 15k step goal each day.

Photo(s) of the Week

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I went back to Michigan to visit with her family. I had heard about the Motown Museum. We were able to get tickets for it, and I'm so glad we did. To think that so much great music was created in this small house is really something that's hard to believe. If you're a music fan you can't help but be moved. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.