Former Stop and Shop - Westerly, RI

Former Stop and Shop - Westerly, RI

  June 17, 2018    Robby S.

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FORMER STOP AND SHOP
PRESENTLY OCEAN STATE JOB LOT
CLOSED 2008
20 POST ROAD
WESTERLY, RI

So a while ago I tried to do a post on an old Super Stop and Shop that was located in Westerly, RI but I was only able to get a few pictures of the outside of the store at the time before I got yelled at to stop taking pictures by staff. Last weekend I happened to be in the area so I decided to press my luck again and get some more shots.



And sure enough I did!

This was a former Stop and Shop location that opened in 1987 at 20 Post Road in Westerly, RI. The store opened right in the middle of the Stop and Shop/Bradlee's era, so in the parking lot one of the Carriage Return signs still bears the Bradlee's-era Stop and Shop logo. It's pretty faint, but it's definitely there as Job Lot painted over the sign to remove any evidence of Stop and Shop

There's an untouched photo of the Carriage Return sign. If you look in the bottom right corner, you can see a little bit of the old Stop and Shop logo peeking out.

Here's the picture with a lot of adjustments to make the logo more visible

I have absolutely no clue how I spotted it since its such a faint marking leftover, and even when adjusted you can just barely make out the logo. The Waterford, CT store uses similar signs to this day, although instead of them being on large-format utility panels its on a smaller metal sign

The Waterford, CT Carriage Return Sign

Much in the traditional Ocean State Job Lot style, the shopping carts were also recycled from an older store. This time, the carts were from Target, and it looks like they were from some time in the 1990s. 

The first cart I found was this rare Target the Family shopping cart, which had details about the company's philanthropy in the logo slot. Originally, it read Target the Family: Giving Back To Our Community on Every Purchase Since 1962.

Job Lot did go through the liberty of scraping off the old logo, so it is a bit difficult to see. For reference, here's a picture of a Target Charity cart before the logo was scraped:

©Target World

Another thing that hinted towards the carts originally being from Target was a child safety warning on the inside of the carts. Most notably, where it reads For Safety's Sake, it looks like it uses the same neon font that was used elsewhere throughout Target stores in the 1990s. 

And on the last cart I found, the Ocean State Job Lot sticker was peeling back and underneath you can see it once said Target. 

The inside of the cart also still bears the old Target Credit Card advertisement, which wasn't really scraped off besides the Target logo once on the card

So I think it's a pretty safe assumption that the carts once were from Target.

Now moving on to the store itself...

It's pretty clear that this used to be a Super Stop and Shop store. After all, it is quite difficult to hide the distinctly S&S facade.

The space has since been subdivided into three parcels, with Dollar Tree on the left (where the bakery, Dunkin' Donuts, and frozen food departments once were), Ocean State Job Lot in the middle (where the majority of the dry goods and produce was), and Cardi's Mattress Outlet on the right (where the Deli and Florist used to be).

Oddly enough, Job Lot moved the entrance doors from Stop and Shop's original vestibules and relocated them to the large windows on the front of the store. The store's leftmost vestibule has since been closed off and the only way to enter the store is via the new doors to the right.

Inside the store, as you might imagine, Job Lot is very reminiscent of the Stop and Shop that predated it

The produce department remains largely intact. The curved ceilings are placed along OSJL's rightmost wall. The deli and florist departments would have been adjacent, but have since been walled off for Cardi's parcel

The original Stop and Shop restrooms actually remain and are located within the Ocean State Job Lot parcel. The walls back here for the most part retain their original paint job (besides the added wall to the right)

The rear of the store has had its wall moved forwards a few feet so that OSJL could have more storage space in the back.

On the left side of the store near the former vestibule, OSJL converted the section into a food pantry-type department. 

In the vacated vestibule remains two interesting artifacts from the Stop and Shop occupancy. Above what has now been re-purposed to an emergency door is a small sticker with a barcode that reads Stop and Shop Asset. 

And inside one of the door frames in the vestibule is an older style Wal-Mart smiley face sticker.

The front of the store where the checkout counters once were bore a wood-striped facade that was very reminiscent to Stop and Shop stores from the 1980s. Most stores had their wood stripes removed after the Super Stop and Shop wave of renovations in the 1990s, but it looks like this one didn't make the cut. Regardless, though, it still bore the Super Stop and Shop name on the exterior until its closure in 2008 so it's clear that there were some renovations in the '90s.

So just because I had a few extra minutes I popped my head into the Dollar Tree, which was located in the former Bakery, Dunkin' Donuts, and Frozen Foods department. It was actually quite a nice Dollar Tree too although it looks like most of Stop and Shop's relics have since been removed.

So that'll wrap up this week's article on the former Super Stop and Shop in Westerly, RI. Be sure to check back weekly for new posts and stay tuned for more Ocean State Job Lot finds in the near future!

~RS