MEDFORD — Local shoppers will say goodbye this weekend to one familiar supermarket destination but will have the opportunity embrace a newer version at another location a little further down the road.
Stop & Shop will close its supermarket at 471 Salem St. in Medford for good this Saturday, after more than four years in operation. The closing is to make way for a new Target “small-format” store in its place.
However, in a “one door closes, another one opens” scenario, Stop & Shop’s other Medford store, located about a mile south at 760 Fellsway will celebrate a grand “re-opening” this Friday, when it will show off its new renovations which have been ongoing for about the last three months.
The much larger 760 Fellsway store, originally called Super Stop & Shop when it opened in 2008 in Fellsway Plaza, will kick off a month-long celebration touting its new additions and improvements, Stop & Shop officials announced in a press statement Tuesday. The 760 Fellsway store has 45,000 square feet in floor space.
The remodeled 760 Fellsway Stop & Shop will feature expanded produce, fresh meat, seafood, floral, and deli departments. The store also have an in-store sushi chef to enhance its amenities as well as increased offerings of natural and organic foods.
The grand re-opening will begin when the store opens at 7 a.m. continuing through the weekend and the next two weekends with free events for all shoppers and local residents, including a barbeque, product samplings and giveaways.
Stop & Shop officials said in a statement that employees of the Salem Street store closing Saturday will be offered positions at either the 760 Fellsway store nearby or other Stop & Shop stores in the area. Another area location is at 99 Charles St. in Malden.
Most of the patrons of both Stop & Shop stores are Medford and Malden residents since the supermarkets are both located at the Medford-Malden city line.
The Salem Street Stop & Shop that is closing its doors had first opened in January 2013. It replaced a former Johnnie’s Foodmaster supermarket which has operated at the location since the 1970s. In 2013, Stop & Shop put $400,000 on renovations at the store to outfit as the new store brand there.
In July, Target announced it was leasing the space with the intention of operating a small-format store at the location. The Medford Target store will feature groceries, a CVS Pharmacy, health and beauty products, home decor products and a selection of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel that will be especially geared to the region’s market,
“We believe the Medford Target store will offer an inspirational quick-stop shopping experience for the many families who live and work in Medford and Malden,” said Mark Schindele, Target senior vice president for properties.