The Golub Corp., longtime operators of
the Price Chopper chain of grocery stores,
announced in November that it will be
rebranding its stores with a new name and
a new look.
The company is also planning to remodel
all of its 134 stores over the next eight years
or so at a cost of some $300 million.
The stores in Clifton Park and Wilton are
among the first three that are getting the
makeover, the third being Pittsfield, Mass.
Price Chopper stores, and the brand, will
become Market 32. The company promised
the new brand will change food shopping for
its customers by modernizing its stores and
offering new services and products.
Market 32 stores will begin rolling out
across the chain’s six-state
footprint this
spring.
A few days after the announcement, Jerry
Golub, Price Chopper CEO, took questions
from customers in a live chat on Facebook.
He stated that the rebranding “does not
add significant additional costs. Most of the
investment is being made in upgrades to our
stores. In addition, we will continue to keep
prices as low as we possibly can. They will not
go up as a result of this rebranding effort.”
He said the company has no intention
to do away with the programs such as the
AdvantEdge card and Fuel AdvantEdge
rewards.
“We did not start with the intention of
changing our name. We started with the goal
of determining the type of shopping experience
that our customers are looking for now
and in the future,” the CEO said. “Once we
had a clear vision of what that experience
will include, and how it will be unique and
relevant, we had to hold up a mirror to the
Price Chopper name and ask ourselves if the
current name reflects where we are going as
a company. That’s when it became clear to us
that the Price Chopper name was too limiting
and needed to be changed.”
He said the $300 million in investment
“will entirely change their look and feel,
while offering an enhanced selection of
products, a focus on health and wellness,
and other elements that will enhance the
shopping experience. The portion of the total
investment that pertains to the name change
is actually very small.
“Updating our stores is something that
is necessary if we want to continue to be
relevant and meet our customers changing
needs. We would be spending close to that
amount to update and modernize our stores, even without a rebranding effort.”
He said the money will not only be used
to update the look and feel of our stores, but
will add important elements and offers to
improve the shopping experience.
Making the formal announcement, Neil
Golub, executive chairman of the board
of the Schenectady-based company, said
Market 32 “represents the next leap forward
for our company. We have evolved from the
Public Service Market to Central Market to
Price Chopper by responding to customers’
changing needs over time and Market 32 is
the next natural progression for us,” he said.
“Early learnings gleaned from our Market
Bistro concept store have put our next
generation in an excellent position to make
this move today.”
The choice of Market 32 as the new name
“is a reflection of the fact that our company
was founded by Ben and Bill Golub back
in 1932. We’re very proud of our heritage
and the fact that we’ve been part of this
great community for the past 82 years, and
there’s no better way to express that pride
than by reflecting it in our new name,” said
Neil Golub.
The first “ground up” Market 32 will be
built in Sutton, Mass. A second wave of conversions
will begin over the next 18 months
and encompass another 10 to 15 stores. More
than half of the chain will be converted
within five years, he said.
The new stores will have expanded food
service options, an enhanced product mix
and a re-emphasis on customer service.
More details about the many differences
in the new concept will be unveiled in the
coming months as store conversions begin,
the Golubs said.
“This is not merely about beautifying our
Price Chopper stores. It is a complete refocus
of our company on the core values that our
customers are looking for in a store. We will
be re-engineering nearly every facet of the
store, beginning with the name but extending
into our marketing, product selection,
services offered and customer focus,” said
Jerry Golub. “Our investment in this transformation
reflects not only the position of
strength from which we take this calculated
risk, but our determination to set a new and
higher more customer-focused standard
that will engage and inspire shoppers for
decades to come.”
The chain has grocery stores in New York,
Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire.