Stop & Shop moves ahead with New York City store upgrade plan

Ahold Delhaize USA’s Stop & Shop has reopened three more supermarkets under a $140 million program to upgrade its New York City stores.

The locations include the first remodeled locations in the city boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens: 1710 Avenue Y in Sheepshead Bay (Brooklyn), 74-17 Grand Ave. in Maspeth (Queens) and 6466 Myrtle Ave. in Glendale (Queens). Stop & Shop held grand opening events at the Sheepshead Bay and Maspeth stores on Friday, while the ribbon-cutting for the Glendale location is slated for Oct. 14.

Stop & Shop noted that its NYC remodels focus primarily on expanded product selections tailored to each store’s diverse neighborhood. For example, the Avenue Y store in Sheepshead Bay houses the second-largest kosher assortment across Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop’s store base. Aisle 3 features a 160-foot kosher section with nearly 1,000 kosher items, including fresh and frozen kosher meat, fish, dairy and grocery products under brands such as Jack Bakes, Matzo Project, Dare to be Different and Biolife dairy products.

Currently, the retailer is stocking kosher baked goods in Aisle 3 but later this year plans to offer these items in a kosher bakery expansion of the store’s bakery department. Also carried in the store are expanded selections of Eastern European, Russian and Turkish products — including Mehmet coffee, Crusters and First Choice baked goods — plus a wider array of Halal dairy products, including Kasbos Market and several new tropical Spanish items.

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“Our customers are thrilled by the enhancements we’ve made at the store, especially the expanded kosher and Eastern European products,” Mario Siragusa, store manager of Avenue Y Stop & Shop in Sheepshead Bay, said in a statement. “It brings us great joy to see that the products we now offer bring our customers a little closer to home.”

Stop & Shop said its reopened Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, store now features the chain's second-largest kosher section plus an expanded beer department and enhanced pharmacy.

Similarly, the Maspeth store carries more than 1,500 additional multicultural products, including new Asian items such as J-Basket Boba Kits and Lotte Choco Pies, as well as a broader assortment of Latin dairy and grocery items, such as El Exquisito Sabor desserts, and Van Camps canned fish and expanded Halal options. In the Glendale store, Aisle 1 has been transformed into a multicultural destination offering almost 1,000 new ethnic products, including Latin dairy items plus Puerto Rican and Caribbean products like Kikuet Empanadillas, Rovira Export Crackers and Tropical cheeses and dairy items.

“Our customers are thrilled by the enhancements we’ve made at the stores so far, especially the expanded ethnic products,” according to Al Steiger, district director at Stop & Shop. “Queens is the most ethnically diverse borough in New York City, and we’re proud to bring products from around the world to the ‘world’s borough.’ ”

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The three stores also sport a brighter, more modern décor and signage to make it easier to navigate the aisles, including icons that help non-native English speakers better understand what’s in each aisle, Stop & Shop said. Customers also will find a bigger assortment of grab-and-go meals, such as a new hot foods bar, chicken wing bar and sushi made fresh in-store daily; expanded meat, seafood and frozen food departments; an enhanced produce department with healthier fare; an upgraded bakery department with cakes, cupcakes and other treats; and organic and natural products integrated within the grocery aisles to make it easier for shoppers to see all product options available.

All three stores also offer click-and-collect service, more sale bins and more special deals on relevant products spotlighted in an NYC-specific weekly circular ad. They also participate in the Flashfood program, a mobile app that gives shoppers access to sizable discounts on products — including meat, produce, seafood, dairy, deli and bakery — nearing their best-by date.

At the Sheepshead Bay Stop & Shop, a relocated and enlarged beer section carries a wider selection of refrigerated beers and ciders plus local favorites such as Six Point, Sloop and Brooklyn Brewery. The store also houses an updated pharmacy, with areas for administering vaccines and the PickPoint Will Call System to expedite pickup of prescriptions.

The first NYC store to be remodeled, the Bay Plaza Stop & Shop at 2136 Bartow Ave. in the borough of the Bronx, reopened in June. The location introduced a 1,000-item section called Global Marke” that features products from 14 countries and regions, such as authentic West Indian and Caribbean offerings with products specific to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica as well as Halal meat, dairy and grocery items.

Overall, Stop & Shop employs more than 3,300 associates and has 25 stores in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The chain also offers home delivery in all five boroughs, including Manhattan.

New York City and other major metro markets are a cornerstone of Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize’s plan to generate another $11 billion-plus in global sales by 2025. Under that effort, Stop & Shop has partnered with NYC-based online grocer FreshDirect, acquired by Ahold Delhaize USA in January 2021, to help create an “omnichannel ecosystem” that brings more convenience, personalization and value to customers via brick-and-mortar and digital channels. The concept is designed to capitalize on densely populated markets with strong affinities for Ahold Delhaize’s local supermarket banners.

Ahold Delhaize’s largest U.S. business, Stop & Shop operates more than 400 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.