Grade A Market
Owner: Tom Cingari
Opened: 2001 (?)
Cooperative: Wakefern Food Corp.
Location: 495 Hope St, Glenbrook, Stamford, CT
Photographed: May 2019
Today's snapshot is one of two Grade A Markets in Stamford, although there are also three ShopRites owned by Grade A in Stamford, along with several more in the suburbs including Danbury. After Grade A joined Wakefern in the mid-90s, two of their stores were deemed too small to be converted to the ShopRite branding -- or perhaps, two stores were acquired later that were too small to be ShopRites, I'm not sure of the timing here. This one is under 20,000 square feet. Both of the Grade A stores are former Grand Unions but I don't know whether they closed before the 2001 bankruptcy.
As the crow flies, it's only about 0.6 miles between this store and the other Grade A, which we'll tour tomorrow. But in reality, it's kind of hard to get between the two stores, and you kind of have to wind your way through residential streets to get there. Come back tomorrow to tour the Newfield Grade A!
Given its very small size, it is hard to tell if this was built in the early 1970s as a relocation from the Colonial-styled store or was itself a much older store that got this early 1970s facelift. It definitely resembles the former Ringwood and Sparta GU stores.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really good question, and either one could be a reasonable explanation.
Delete