ShopRite | West Chester, PA

 

1115 West Chester Pike

Welcome to the West Chester ShopRite!

In a sea of Acme and GIANT, the ShopRite of West Chester is one-of-a-kind in Chester County. The next closest ShopRite is in Delaware, and the only other store owned by this store's operator, KTM Supermarkets, is about 30 miles northeast in Hatfield. However, the store is obviously very successful, as it's been in business since 1970 and was by far the busiest store I visited out of the five in this group. A Progressive Grocer article from 2010 highlights the store's then-recent remodel, the decor from which is still looking good today. Let's take a look inside!

Floral and alcohol are to the left past the entrance. I'm not sure what would have been in the beer and wine area originally.

Produce is on the right side of the grand aisle, which in this store is referred to as Market Street.

Hot foods, deli, and seafood are on the left wall, while the fresh bake shoppe is in the back of the grand aisle. A lot of the signage here is the same as Hatfield.

A small butcher counter and the packaged meat cases can be found upon entering the main store.

Health and beauty aids are in the first few aisles. This store did have a pharmacy at one point, which I assume was in this general area, but I'm guessing it was taken out during the mass ShopRite Pharmacy closures in 2021.

A look down aisle 7, where you can find anything you could ever need to make pasta.

Dairy and frozen are on the right side of the store. I assume the frozen foods area was a different store that ShopRite expanded into, as it's pretty closed off from the rest of the store and also in line with strip mall which faces the store.

As per usual, the checkout lanes and customer service are on the front end of the store. I don't think I've ever seen a supermarket with so many windows! Another interesting thing about this area is that the exit goes straight outside, not through the foyer.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2023

Looking the same as it does today. The frozen foods area I mentioned is to the right in this photo.

Nearby competition

1 mile away: Acme of West Goshen

Our next and final stop in the West Chester area will be the Acme in West Goshen. It seems like a pretty typical 90s Acme, but it actually first opened in 1958! Don't miss the tour next week!

2.8 miles away: GIANT of Westtown

We toured this GIANT last week, and you can take a tour around it here. This store opened in 2017 on the site of a demolished former GIANT, which originally opened as a SuperFresh in 1982.

Despite being pretty far away from other ShopRites, this store seemed really busy and was very nice! I think I would definitely do some shopping here if I lived in the area. Anyway, thanks for reading, and see you next year! The Retail Connection: Check out happy.

GIANT | Westtown, PA

 

1502 West Chester Pike

Welcome to the Westtown GIANT!

We have crossed the border into Chester County and are touring one of their many GIANT stores! However, there wasn't always a GIANT here. Marketplace at Westtown opened in 1979 with a planned anchor of A&P. However, the store didn't open until 1982, by which point A&P's Philadelphia division had been renamed SuperFresh. The store lasted until 2001, then was briefly vacant until Clemens opened in 2003. The store was sold to GIANT in 2006. GIANT closed on January 6, 2017 and demolished the building in short order, with this brand new location opening on November 10. Let's look around!

A nice welcome sign with a photo of the original GIANT store, which opened in 1923 as the Carlisle Meat Market.

Upon entering, beer and wine is to the right and produce is straight ahead. Right off the bat, I was not a fan of the dark ceiling. It made the store a lot less inviting than it would be with a lighter ceiling.

The fresh kitchen and deli are on the right wall, with the bakery being the first department in the back of the store. The decor here is certainly not ugly, but it's very bland.

Meat and seafood are located next to the bakery. Having recipes on the wall is a cool touch, but as PlazaACME noted, there's no explanation as to how you're actually supposed to prepare it, so it's not very helpful.

Jumping to the front end for a moment for a look down aisle 2, full of chips and other snacks. I believe this is also our first time seeing Marty, the robotic assistant at GIANT and Stop & Shop. I don't know if they have him at Martin's, but since they share a name I would hope so!

Milk is in the back left corner and the rest of dairy is in the last aisle. I think the dairy department is the best-looking area in the store, which usually isn't the case.

The GIANT Direct zone, checkouts, and customer service can be found along the front end. I found the "Proudly Serving Westtown Since 2017" signage interesting, since while this store did technically open in 2017, they've been in this spot since 2006.

Other Images of Interest

The previous Westtown GIANT

Photo courtesy of PlazaACME

PlazaACME has a lot of great photos of the original store on Flickr. GIANT retained the Clemens decor until this building's very end.

Street View Images

2023

The sun is shining on the store here, so you can see it a lot better.

2007

Here's the old store, with its unique Clemens-meets-A&P facade. The footprint of the current GIANT also includes a former Rite Aid. The Rite Aid relocated across the street shortly before GIANT was demolished.

Nearby competition

2.8 miles away: ShopRite of West Chester

ShopRite stores aren't very common in this neck of the woods, but West Chester has one! This store is quite old, too, dating back to the 1960s. We will be touring this location next Friday.

3.5 miles away: Acme of West Goshen

We started this adventure with the Acme in Newtown Square, and we're ending it with the Acme in West Goshen! This store is also pretty old, having first opened in 1958. It received a major expansion in the 80s, and currently has the Quality Built decor inside. 

That is going to do it for our tour of this GIANT! While I'm sure it's a pretty nice store for the average shopper, I was not impressed by this location, with the dark atmosphere and bland decor. I thought the Newtown Square store was much more inviting. Anyway, we'll be headed into West Chester next week to see two more stores. Have a great weekend, and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! The Retail Connection: For today's table.

GIANT | Newtown Square, PA

4855 West Chester Pike

Welcome to the Newtown Square GIANT!

Our next stop in Newtown Square is the town's GIANT. When this center first opened in 1995, Genuardi's was the grocery anchor in this space. Not making it to the 2012 demise of Genuardi's, this store closed in the summer of 2010 along with the Glen Mills, Wayne, and Voorhees locations. However, Safeway must have still held the lease on this store in 2012, as it was sold to GIANT along with 15 other stores. GIANT reopened in this space on November 6, 2013. Without further adieu, let's begin our tour!

This store was recently remodeled to GIANT's current decor. I think it looks much better here than in Blue Bell, most likely because of this store's open ceiling.

Organic foods, floral, and a very narrow produce department are on the right side of the store. The flooring is left over from the 90s Genuardi's decor the store opened with. Safeway never remodeled this store to Lifestyle.

The meat and seafood counter and packaged meats line the back wall of the store.

Aisle 5 is stocked with canned foods.

Health and beauty is in the middle aisles. This store does not have a pharmacy, and I doubt it ever did as Genuardi's either, as there was previously a Happy Harry's next door until 2005. That space was later Staples but is now Five Below.

Dairy is in the back left corner of the store, across from the frozen foods aisles.

The bakery, deli, and kitchen are on the far right side of the store. This store has the same layout as Springfield; both shopping centers were developed by the same company, and the stores opened one year apart, so I guess they could be considered twins.

Customer service and GIANT Direct are next to the prepared foods.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2022

The remodel must have been quite recently, as this photo still shows the store with the previous logo and decor.

2007

I believe this store maintained the original Genuardi's decor from the 90s until the very end. It was probably one of the very first to get this logo.

Nearby competition

2.4 miles away: Whole Foods of Newtown Square

This Whole Foods opened in 2019 on a formerly empty plot of land as part of a new shopping center. We won't be seeing this store, but you can find pictures of it online.

2.8 miles away: Acme of Newtown Square

The Newtown Square Acme opened back in 1958, and has been expanded and remodeled several times over. We saw this store last week, and you can tour it by clicking here.

4 miles away: Amazon Fresh of Broomall

The Broomall Amazon Fresh opened last year in part of a former GIANT, which relocated to a new facility in 2019. It's safe to say there's no shortage of GIANTs in this area.

This was a nice, clean, and spacious store. However, it's quite small compared to the average GIANT and wasn't as busy as I would expect. Next week, we're headed to another GIANT just down the road! See you then! The Retail Connection: For today's table.