Roche Bros. makes debut in Arsenal Yards mixed-use project

Massachusetts grocer Roche Bros. today opened a 24,000-square-foot supermarket at the Arsenal Yards mixed-use development in Watertown.

Roche Bros. owner Rick Roche cut the ribbon for the Arsenal Yards store on Friday with local officials. Situated at 96 Arsenal Yards Blvd., the new store represents the first Roche Bros. location in Watertown. The upscale supermarket offers high-quality meat, seafood and produce, ready-to-eat prepared foods, locally sourced grocery items, national grocery favorites, catering, and home delivery to customers and residents of Arsenal Yards and the greater Watertown community.

Mansfield, Mass.-based Roche Bros. — which now operates 22 grocery stores under the Roche Bros., Sudbury Farms and Brothers Marketplace banners — is known for its perishables, including fresh produce, meat, seafood, prepared foods, baked goods and artisan cheeses. The Watertown store houses the “Chop Shop,” offering smoothies, cut fruits and vegetables; the “Cheese Shop,” featuring artisan cheese and charcuterie boards; a prepared foods section, including made-to-order sandwiches, in the deli; and a flatbread pizza bar with grab-and-go and made-to-order pizza. Also at the store are an R.B. Roasters Café, serving espresso drinks and locally roasted coffee, with indoor and outdoor seating plus an outdoor seasonal produce market.

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Roche Bros. offers curbside pick-up and delivery through rochebros.com, and delivery partnerships through Instacart and Shipt.

“Our expansion into Watertown at Arsenal Yards delivers our vision of bringing an innovative food shopping experience into local neighborhoods. This store combines the variety and first-rate shopping experience of Roche Bros.,with the innovation and product assortment of Brothers Marketplace,” according to Linda SanGiacomo, vice president of marketing at Roche Bros. “In Watertown, we will continue to offer the traditional products our customers have grown to love, as well as innovative specialty items that cater to the needs and desires of residents and guests of Arsenal Yards.”

Located along the Charles River in East End Watertown, Arsenal Yards encompasses over 1 million square feet of residential, retail, entertainment, fitness and community space, as well as a life science lab. The Roche Bros. store’s front entrance stands across the street from City Works Eatery and Pour House, Ben & Jerry's and the Majestic 7 cinema and offers dedicated garage parking. Roche Bros.’ café opens onto the Arsenal Yards River Green public space. The supermarket joins Ulta Beauty and the new 146-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton as the first three openings this year at Arsenal Yards.

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“We are thrilled to officially welcome Roche Bros. to the neighborhood as one of the anchor tenants of Arsenal Yards,” Tom Wilder, principal of The Wilder Cos., which co-developed Arsenal Yards with Boylston Properties, said in a statement. “Known as the ‘best of the best’ of Boston-area grocers, the much-anticipated opening of Roche Bros. will offer our community the widest possible selection of fresh ingredients, along with incredible customer service, and will most certainly be a big draw for those working, visiting and living at Arsenal Yards.”