A Google image showing the Ansonia Stop & Shop.
ANSONIA – The Stop & Shop grocery store at 100 Division St. will close by the end of the year, company officials announced on Friday (July 12).
The Ansonia store is one of 32 Stop & Shops in the chain that will close on or before Nov. 2, 2024, according to a prepared statement from the Quincy, Mass.-based company. Five of the stores are in Connecticut.
The stores are closing because they were underperforming, according to the statement.
The number of people working in the Ansonia store wasn’t immediately available. The statement says employees there might be absorbed into other Stop & Shop locations.
The closure will leave the City of Ansonia without a grocery store within city limits.
Big Y closed on Main Street about five years ago to move to a new location on Route 34 in Derby. Its space in the Ansonia Shopping Center has remained vacant, and the Bob’s Store in the same plaza just announced it is closing.
In addition to the Route 34 Big Y in Derby, there is a Shop Rite grocery store on Pershing Drive in Derby very close to the Ansonia border. That store is scheduled to be remodeled, according to The CT Post.
There is also an Aldi’s on Pershing Drive in Derby not far from the Ansonia Stop & Shop. In Seymour, there is a Stop & Shop at 15 Franklin St. The Target on Main Street in Ansonia added grocery options several years back.
Ansonia Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley said the Stop & Shop announcement didn’t come as a complete surprise since rumors had been circulating for weeks. She said she had reached out to company officials recently but did not hear back.
O’Malley said that Stop & Shop did not appear to be reinvesting in the Division Street location, especially when compared to other grocery stores in Derby, Oxford and Shelton.
“They had not updated, renovated, changed their model, or done anything to the store in I don’t know how many years,” O’Malley said. “Look at Big Y, they totally changed their marketing strategy and store layout – it’s like an open farmer’s market type thing. Stop & Shop has just let their stores go.”
O’Malley and Mayor David Cassetti have repeatedly lobbied the owner of the Ansonia Shopping Center on Main Street to bring a grocer to that location to replace Big Y. O’Malley said Friday she is still confident that will eventually happen.
The fate of the Stop & Shop building on Division Street remains uncertain, she said. There’s a gas station owned by Stop & Shop at the location, too.
She’s heard talk that a German-based, Aldi-like company is negotiating to buy the soon-to-be shuttered stores. A Stop & Shop spokesperson said the company could not comment.
A property card shows 100 Division St. is owned by Ansonia (E&A) LLC, which is based in South Carolina. However, O’Malley said Stop & Shop itself owns the property, and she provided a letter from the company regarding where to mail local tax bills.
This story will be updated.
In the prepared statement, Stop & Shop noted they will still own 350 stores after the closures happen.
From the press release:
“Stop & Shop is proud of the deep roots and community ties we have developed as a neighborhood grocer of more than 100 years, and we remain committed to nourishing our associates, customers and communities,” said Gordon Reid, President, Stop & Shop. “As we announced in May, Stop & Shop has evaluated its overall store portfolio and made the difficult decision to close underperforming stores to create a healthy base for the future growth of our brand.”
Here is the list of the locations to be closed:
Connecticut
100 Division St., Ansonia
211 High St., Torrington (931 Torringford St., Torrington will remain open)
1937 West Main St., Stamford (2200 Bedford St., Stamford will remain open)
855 Bridgeport Ave., Milford (1360 East Town Road, Milford will remain open)
72 Newtown Road, Danbury (44 Lake Avenue Ext., Danbury will remain open)
Massachusetts
932 North Montello St., Brockton
36 New State Highway, Raynham
341 Plymouth St., Halifax
539 – 571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury
165 Needham St., Newton (bfresh Market)
415 Cooley St., Springfield (1600 Boston Rd. and 1277 Liberty St., Springfield will remain open)
545 Lincoln St. Worcester (940 West Boylston St. and 949 Grafton St., Worcester will remain open)
24 Mattakeesett St., Pembroke (125 Church St., Pembroke will remain open)
New Jersey
1083 Inman Ave., Edison
1049 US Highway 1 South, Edison
4861 US Highway 9, Howell
1278 US Highway 22, Phillipsburg
581 Stelton Rd., Piscataway
625 Paterson Ave., Carlstadt
1221 State Route 27, Franklin Township
130 Skyline Dr., Ringwood
505 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach
2275 West County Line Rd., Jackson
New York
2965 Cropsey Ave., Brooklyn
130 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale
7 Samsondale Plaza, West Haverstraw
294 Middle Country Road, Coram
240 East Sanford Blvd., Mt. Vernon
132 Fulton Ave., Hempstead
2525 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow
Rhode Island
11 Commerce Way, Johnston
176 Pittman St., Providence (Eastside Marketplace)
