Halloween marked the final day of operations for eight Cease & Store grocery shops throughout Massachusetts — a smelly deal with that leaves needy residents scrambling for alternate options.
The Bay State closures, from Brockton to Springfield, are a part of a consolidation effort wherein the grocery chain shuttered 32 underperforming shops throughout the Northeast.
Cease & Store President Gordon Reid stated that the corporate determined to shut the shops to create a “healthy base for the future growth of our brand.”
Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch grocery store firm that owns the chain, stated in Might that it deliberate to shut some Cease & Store places to strengthen the model. The corporate stated it desires to construct new shops and transform the remaining ones, improve the variety of store-brand merchandise it gives and cut back costs.
A retailer on North Montello Avenue in Brockton is a kind of closing within the Massachusetts. Cease & Store beforehand tried to shut the placement within the spring of 2023, however Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan and different leaders rallied, convincing the corporate and its landlord to maintain it open.
Sullivan was not completely happy in regards to the reversal, the Brockton Enterprise reported in July.
“I am very disappointed with Stop & Shop’s decision to close this location in a part of our city that desperately needs a grocery store,” Sullivan instructed the regional newspaper. “We were assured just last year that this location would continue to operate.”
“This closure will greatly impact many Brocktonians who rely on this store for food, pharmacy and gas purchases on a daily basis,” he added. “We will work with residents to assure they have access to other stores in the area.”
The chain stated in July it was additionally closing 10 shops in New Jersey, seven in New York, 5 in Connecticut and two in Rhode Island. It added that staff at affected shops could be supplied different jobs inside the firm.
Burt Flickinger, a longtime retail advisor and proprietor of Strategic Useful resource Group, stated lots of Cease & Store’s issues have been self-inflicted. The model closed contemporary meat and seafood counters in some shops, for instance, which lower down on the quantity clients spent in these shops.
Cease & Store can also be getting squeezed by huge rivals like Walmart and Costco, and low cost chains like Aldi and Lidl.
One other retailer shutting down in Massachusetts is a location on Lincoln Avenue in Worcester. Metropolis officers there noticed their requests for the corporate to rethink the closure turned down.
Firm officers met with the town in a non-public assembly in late July to debate the closure, MassLive reported on the time. The shop is situated close to a number of Worcester Housing Authority complexes with people who find themselves both on a set revenue or are thought-about low-income households, the outlet reported.
“In all, you’re looking at 8,000 to 9,000 individuals that use Stop & Shops and when it’s closing, certainly it’s going to limit their food options what they are accustomed to having,” WHA CEO Alex Corrales instructed MassLive.
Full checklist of shops closing in Massachusetts:
932 North Montello St., Brockton
36 New State Freeway, Raynham
341 Plymouth St., Halifax
539-571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury
165 Needham St., Newton (bfresh Market)
415 Cooley St., Springfield (1600 Boston Street and 1277 Liberty St., Springfield will stay open)
545 Lincoln St. Worcester (940 West Boylston St. and 949 Grafton St., Worcester will stay open)
24 Mattakeesett St., Pembroke (125 Church St., Pembroke will stay open)
The Related Press contributed to this report
