Stop & Shop announced this week that they are planning on closing the doors on multiple supermarkets throughout the Northeast region, with the reason given being that they are "underperforming" financially.
Currently, the locations and overall number of stores slated to be shuttered - nor the timeline for their closures - have yet to be officially revealed by the company, which operates almost 400 locations spread out amongst Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
A spokesperson for Stop & Shop made the announcement via a statement, saying that “Stop & Shop will make some difficult decisions to close select underperforming store locations to help ensure the long-term health and future growth for our business."
The supermarket chain has been remodeling locations that have been lucrative and will be remaining open for the foreseeable future, the spokesperson noted.
“We’ve completed more than 190 remodels to date, which continue to perform well, and we’re committed to continuing to invest in our stores – as well in our prices – to deliver a great in-store experience and great values for our customers,” they said.
The news was initially revealed at an investor strategy day held in The Netherlands last week by the CEO of Stop & Shop’s parent company, Ahold Delhaize, who said that Stop & Shop would “focus on the markets that are most important, including those where the brand has strong density, holds a strong market position, or has stores that are performing well.”