Price Chopper opens ground-up Market 32

Golub Corp. on Tuesday cut the ribbon on its first “ground up” Market 32 store in Connecticut, giving local residents the opportunity to experience the chain’s contemporary new supermarket concept.

The new store in Oxford anchors the Quarry Walk development. The store is the 10th Market 32 to open, and the second to open as a new store; Golub Corp. previously opened a newly built Market 32 concept in Sutton, Mass. The Schenectady, N.Y.-based retailer has previously detailed plans to convert its entire fleet of 135 stores — most doing business under the Price Chopper banner —to Market 32.

The company said several Price Chopper conversions are currently underway across the chain’s six-state footprint, while another new store is being built from the ground up in Fort Edward, N.Y., and is expected to open before the end of the year.

Customers attend a preview party of the 54,000-square-foot store. (Photos courtesy of Price Chopper)

“Market 32 is a contemporary food-focused concept store that wholly reflects what our customers have told us they want in a modern and convenient shopping experience,” Scott Grimmett, Price Chopper's president and CEO, said in a statement.

The look and feel of Market 32 is distinctively more modern than Price Chopper, though many of the differences are subtle. Marked by open space, a décor filled with soft earth tones and product-focused displays, murals and lighting, the brand emphasizes convenient, ready-to-eat foods, fresh, handcrafted, and locally grown, produced and manufactured products, and intuitive product/department adjacencies, the company said.

“Our Oxford Market 32 is a grocery store for this and future generations. While maintaining our focus on quality and value, we’ve added a host of wonderful signature items throughout the store, plus modern conveniences like customized prepared foods, a patisserie/café equipped with wi-fi, a drive-thru pharmacy, a Chef’s Table offering food demonstrations and sampling, and a new higher standard of service,” said Grimmett.

The 54,000-square-foot store employs 200 workers and includes service meat, deli, seafood and bakery departments; a a drive-through pharmacy; a kitchen shop with upscale appliances; specialty cheeses; and prepared foods including a full-service Starbucks; made-to-order salads; classic NYC-style deli sandwiches; fresh-baked Corner to Corner and Tavoletta pizzas; a variety of hot and cold soups; an in-store smoker that slow cooks ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork with Market 32’s signature rub; sushi and aburi made fresh in-store; grab-and-go and heat-and-eat meals; and a chef’s case which offers entrees and sides, giving shoppers the opportunity to customize meal combinations, the company said.