Price Chopper #224 opened in June 2009 in Colonie, N.Y., and is known as the chain’s sustainability signature store. More than 30% of the structure was built using post-consumer materials. The Schenectady, N.Y.-based company, with 128 stores in six states, takes its “green” pursuits seriously, which, coupled with its sharp focus on health and wellness, earned it the 2010 SN Whole Health Enterprise Award. (Photos by Nancy Bruno)
The frozen section uses special, motion-activated LED lighting behind each door that helps reduce electric consumption.
The store is home to the first-ever 400-watt fuel cell built by United Technologies. Subsequent units are bound for the World Trade Center site in New York’s Lower Manhattan business district.
A Tree Grows in Produce: Customers may not completely understand the eco-friendly technology at work in Price Chopper store #224, but they still get the message.
Price Chopper was the first supermarket company in the country to roll out the NuVal nutrition rating system chainwide. More than 16,000 products in every department have been analyzed and assigned a score — with more added every month.
Price Chopper offers a multi-tiered selection of four private labels. All of them are included in the NuVal system; in fact, more than 100 products were reformulated in order to get higher scores.
Price Chopper has a long history of educating consumers about healthy eating. The chain’s “Be Seafood Smart” program was started in the 1990s.
USDA-certified organic foods are found throughout the store, and get prominent placement in the fresh produce section. On any given day, some 200 organic fruits and vegetables might be available.
Price Chopper #224 is home to a large, 6,600-square-foot kosher “store-in-a-store” that includes a dedicated butcher and deli.
Price Chopper operates 72 in-store pharmacies within the 128-store chain.