The Second Westford Market Basket is Open
It's been a source of discussion over the past few months, and now the discussion moves into a new phase as Market Basket's second location opened on Sunday.
It's official: Westford's second Market Basket is here.
The long awaited anchor store for the new Cornerstone Plaza saw a flurry of activity on Sunday, opening a store with a layout more comparable to its other newer stores in New England than its first location in town at Westford Valley Marketplace.
DeMoulas corporate operations manager David McLean said that far from closing the old store, Market Basket hopes to grow its brand by supplementing the new store with the old store, something it has done elsewhere.
"It's always more rewarding to grow with a town that has helped our business grow, something we've done in places like Bourne, New Bedford and Brockton, just to name a few," he said.
McLean also said he hopes the newer stores in the chain such as this one can help shed the perception that Market Basket is fixated solely on prices, which for many has been its hallmark for the past few decades, adding various higher-end items here not found in older stores.
"While many chains specialize, we aim to serve all customers, even though all of our stores are unique," he said, noting that the average Market Basket has more than 50,000 items. "But what we don't believe in is gimmicks. We don't believe in special prices for special circumstances or groups, we want to provide low prices for everyone."
Westford Patch has a challenge for the new Market Basket and we need your help. Check back later today or in tomorrow's free morning newsletter. You can subscribe to our newsletter by going to westford.patch.com/newsletters.
Amber
9:10 am on Monday, December 3, 2012
I'm pretty sure it's supplementing (as opposed to supplimenting) their desire for lack of competition. :)
Andrew Sylvia
9:24 am on Monday, December 3, 2012
Thanks for the catch!
Anne Shirley
12:52 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Just wondering what the parking situation in Cornerstone is like now that Market Basket is open. Was it a real zoo there yesterday, Andy?
katie
2:55 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Hard to judge the parking situation so far since all the stores aren't actually open yet.. but I will say, I found a parking spot no problem. The store was busy but it was a lot of people just interested in seeing the new store, a lot different than the normal busy Sunday of a supermarket!
Andrew Sylvia
3:11 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Anne, I think Katie hit it on the nose. The lot was full yesterday, but I found a spot in about two minutes. As you can see by that picture, there was a lot of activity at the checkouts. That was taken around 12:15 p.m.
Lisa Frank
1:28 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I'm not understanding why anyone would need two of the same exact supermarkets less than a 1 mile apart from each other. I'd like to see some diversity!! Like a trader joes or a whole foods, please!
katie
2:42 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
It's done. It's two Market Baskets. The new store has plenty to offer that the old store doesn't, it's nice and the options are new and different. You don't have to shop there, Nashua/Bedford are not far.
To all those complaining about two MBs: it's done. What's the point in still complaining about it? If you don't like it, don't shop at either one. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are both more expensive. I've been eating the food from MB my entire life - I'm healthy and happy, and I'm not spending my Whole Paycheck on groceries.
Dan D.
2:55 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Well, Lisa,
I suppose you could buy out the owners and try to attract whatever store you want.
Whether it is a good or bad thing, MB will find out. The market will let it's wishes known.
Amber B.
8:25 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
Well, Katie, it's all well and good if you don't have multiple food allergies or dietary restrictions which require having a broader selection of foods free of those allergens. If stores like MB carried more extensive allergen-free product lines, the competition would drive down prices at stores like WF (which is a necessary evil for people like me). It's nice to not have those restrictions, I am sure, so very happy for you but be gentle to the people who *can't* eat the food from MB. :)
katie
11:26 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
I wonder, do you assume that MB hasn't adapted to the increasing "popularity" of specialty dieting and just boycott based on that assumption? I've seen plenty of additional organic items and gluten free products, with labels to indicate that's what they are.
TK
9:04 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
MB somewhat adapted to specialty diets, but for my family it's not enough. Like Amber, I also have to go to WF or Trader to buy food that is free of multiple allergens. MB recently added multiple good products (preservatives free deli meats & hot dogs, organic chicken, BPA free canned beans, etc.), and prices are great. But gluten/milk/soy (or artificial dyes & preservatives) free ice-cream/cheese/yogurt/cookies/breads can be found only in WF. I do understand that only few people in Westford need allergen-free foods. But there are plenty people in Westford (and around Westford) who would love to buy on the way home more "advanced" cakes/sweets, prepared foods, cheeses, organic berries, tea, etc. And MB does not have it. I do want to have MB in my town, but I also wanted to have smth else. May be next time?
Amber B.
8:34 am on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Katie, I assume nothing. I shop at Market Basket for staples for the kids (Ritz crackers were 50 cents a box yesterday, btw, I stocked up, Matt goes through that stuff like it's candy.)
It's not really "specialty dieting" - I have multiple food allergies. I have to read EVERY label, EVERY time. There are certain things I go to Wegman's and WF for (TK, you should check out Wegman's sometimes, it's a longer ride but they have an even better selection than WF for some items, definitely better than TJ's with mostly better pricing. Also, amazon's Subscribe & Save has MUCH lower prices than all three). Just to give you an idea - no dairy, gluten, soy, oats, almonds, hazelnuts, or eggs. It's VERY difficult to find products free of all of these, and MB doesn't carry more than the small shelf stable (expensive!) containers of So Delicious soy-free line - yogurts, milk beverages, coffee creamer, and they only carry one flavor of the ice cream. Hannaford does. Earth Balance has the only soy-free, egg-free mayo in existence, found only at WF; and that doesn't even get into the myriad flours and bread mixes. I have to go far beyond just finding something gluten-free, and since it IS my life, I sort of have to know what I'm talking about. :)
Keeping it real
2:57 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I'm so happy that MB opened a new location. I'm a regular MB shopper, but I do make the trek to Chelmsford since the "first" MB was so small/old. I enjoyed the freshly made sushi, the excellent produce and most of all the low prices. I've tried the Stop and Shop route, clipped coupons like crazy, used gas points, and in the end I was still spending way more than when I went to MB (Also, I was buying so much prepared food to use the coupons/sale/gas points.)
I think Whole Foods is a great store, but for $60 all I had was one small bag of groceries....that's not working on my budget! Trader Joes has an equal amount of great deals and overpriced items, but is again, mostly prepared foods.
I'm looking for a market that gives low prices, good quality on basics (produce, bread, milk, etc.), and is clean and easy to shop in. I hate clipping coupons to just make sure I'm not getting hosed. And I don't want to shop somewhere that is just giving "elite" cache because they jack up the prices on staples.
Proud Conservative
11:30 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
I've shopped at Market Basket for 50 plus years. They are unbeatable! When I see identical items in Hannaford for twice the price I have to wonder what's wrong with the people that shop there. And for kickers, MB has Walmart beat by a mile.
lynda giannetta
3:04 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I'm with you Katie. I don't understand why anyone would pay the competitors prices for the same items. I'll be stopping in this week to check it out. i always find the help friendly and it's easy to find what I need.
DJ
4:27 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012
I am MB, I want a bigger store and I like my location... and my current location (the 'old' MB) does not allow me to expand so I :
A) Try and find a closeby location that is larger
B) Shut down business and move out of town
C) Let a competitor move into the brand new, twice as big store I am looking for
D) Move into the brand new, twice as big store I want & let my lease run out in '16
E) Both A and D
Anyone who owns a successful business, that gets a golden opportunity to expand and custom build the business/store to their specs across the street from the current location jumps on it. If anyone else wanted in at CornerSq they could have done so but obviously fell $hort...
Now if you want to bring up the people taking illegal and dangerous lefts on Boston Rd. into CornerSq (last night a guy pulled into the EXIT driveway!!) then lets talk about a solution fo that...
Judie Bankowski
1:20 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
OK I also was there for the grand opening and I could not get over all the Happy faces and to see the amount of jobs that provided. I just left there feeling so happy for all of the people working and shopping there !!
John
6:59 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
MB did this clearly to keep out competition, and maintain their monopoly in Westford.
As for pricing differences, I agree there's a landslide between them and some (but not all) stores. One can save a lot of money by shopping Trader Joe's and any wholesale club (mostly Costco or Sam's to a greater extent). I can provide numerous examples of how Trader Joe's is priced lower than MB; and some of it is a gray area as TJ's sells produce by quantity as opposed to by the pound. Just today, I bought Trader Joe's mango sorbet at $4.49/qt (everyday price). I'd be hard pressed to find something comparable at that price at Market Basket (with decent ingredients meaning no high fructose corn syrup or similar ingredients) and would probably pay 30% more for something comparable.
I can say with good confidence that Trader Joe's saves me 15-20% over standard MB pricing. Some of it isn't comparable though. I buy deli all natural turkey breast at TJ's at $2.99/7 ounce package (which translates into $6.83 a pound) but there's nothing like it at MB. Hannaford does have a close match with their Inspirations All Natural Turkey Breast at $7.49 a pound and it goes on sale for $5.99/lb which isn't much different of a price than Sara Lee turkey at MB or Hannaford that isn't all natural! One can find a good selection of granola bars at $2.29-2.79 at TJ's; comparable ones average about $.50 more anywhere else including MB; maybe it ends up being the same price if on sale.
Randy
9:52 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012
Traitor Joe's is good for unsalted nuts and some other things, but their produce dept. isn't so hot. Nor their fresh mozzarella.
Proud Conservative
11:33 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Any competing store can open just about anywhere they want to. The problem I see is that Market Basket's so called competitors don't offer much competition when their prices are at least 50% higher for identical items. The prices at greedy Hannaford, Trader Joe's, Shaw's and the like are insane and anyone buying at those prices is likewise insane.
Tim Driscoll
10:13 pm on Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Certainly this brings an acceptable super market option to Westford. I was pleasantly pleased today walking through. Not sure I'll ever get over going to the bathroom in the back of the old Market Basket and gagging from the smell of racks of eggs, milk, produce in barely cool temperatures. Still not sure how that is allowed to happen.
Barbara Flynn
12:37 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
I didn't like getting in and out of the parking lot. Wish there could be a light so I could make a left onto Boston Road since that is how I have to head home. Lots of free samples and free items today:. I also got the .50 Ritz crackers, there was a vendor handing out Sanpellecrino 6 pk drink (gives you the coupon to make it free), 2 free Chabaso roasted garlic bread stix, coupon for free Fresh Express salad, coupon for free Marzetti Dip, 1.00/1 Utz chips (they are 2.00 so $1 is awesome). In the store there are alot of coupons on items including Olde Cape Cod salad dressing on sale for .99 and coupon is $1 on 2 so. Also saw some on croutons but I just bought some so didn't need them. The cashiers and stock people and everyone was really nice.
Sally
10:28 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
It's absolutely appalling that the town has allowed another Market Basket in Westford. We need less market basket's and more Whole Foods/Trader Joes. I will continue to travel to Bedford, Acton, and Nashua. shame on you Westford. I wish the town was still full of the 'stop Walmart' crowd.
Proud Conservative
11:37 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Good - you continue to buy your $5.00/lb chicken and $3.00/dz eggs. The Whole Foods and Trader Joe's owners and managers love people like you who help them live large. And I thank you personally for helping to keep the parking lot and aisles a little less crowded at Market Basket.
Think Twice
7:46 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Sally - good comment, but a bit mis-directed. Don't get so upset with the TOWN for "allowing" another market basket. First, it's not the town's choice to dictate what retail stores come into town, it's a free, open market. But you should also know that Whole Foods and others had the chance to move into town as well, and from what I hear they rejected it outright. Those stores required a much larger footprint for the store (the "new" market basket is still only about 2/3 the size of what Whole Foods, Shaws and other stores required to build).
Be happy to have a great supermarket in town -- and start now lobbying for a small independent or specialty grocer to move into the old Market Basket location if that's what you want. Trader Joes is the only one that I know of who would take a location of that size, but they have a location in neighboring Acton, and just opened a new store in Nashua, so I think another in Westford is unlikely.
The choice was really a new Market Basket, or no grocery store at all for cornerstone, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome (but haven't visited the new store myself -- I tend to shop at several stores but I'm very glad to have the staples and more available at low prices right here in town).
Proud Conservative
11:39 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Market Basket will not be closing the old store. They plan to keep both open just as they have successfully done in many other towns.
Think Twice
7:46 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Also - perhaps we'll see a Whole Foods type of store open in the big development going up a mile down the road in Littleton, since the neighboring town's version of cornerstone square looks to be a much larger development (on the corner of Rt. 495 and Rt. 119... Exit 31).
Hey Andrew Sylvia.. any chance you'll explore and report on that new development and what's coming?
John Frodigh
2:07 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
That is the new MBTA parking lot for the commuter rail, not a shopping plaza
Andrew Sylvia
10:50 am on Monday, January 21, 2013
Hi "Twink Twice",
Sorry I didn't see this. All you need to do is go to the search bar in the upper right hand corner of the home page and type in "Cornerstone Square." We've written dozens of stories on the plaza.
Think Twice
2:39 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
No - it's a 90-acre mixed-use site - there isn't a train track anywhere in that area.
I found more info after posting here - but they haven't gotten to the stage where tennants are coming Here's some more info:
"The private development project, ‘The Point,’ is a 580,000 square-foot, mixed-use private venture that will include retail, office space and a 100-room hotel on the former Cisco Systems site."
Source: http://www.mass.gov/hed/press-releases/massworks-littleton-groundbreaking.html
Westford4life
9:53 am on Monday, January 21, 2013
I just want to thank Bob walker for putting Americans back to work. This guy is a true patriot for standing up for what he believes in and having the guts and courage to see this development through. Some people say the flag at cornerstone is too big, well i say it aint big enough. This is what america is all about.
John
10:07 am on Monday, January 21, 2013
A few jobs may have been truly created through the development of Cornerstone Square, but imagine if the project housed a truly innovative companies that truly created many skilled jobs paying above $50k. Sure, there's a few stores that Westford didn't otherwise have, but neighboring stores do. Let's be real, even though that new MB probably employs 300 (most of them being part time), it's a few management jobs and a few part time jobs that have been created that wouldn't otherwise been around, so technically I think it is a reasonable estimate to say they created 30. And don't get me started that there's competition that pays higher (and some cases much higher) than them like Trader Joes, and you can say the same for Whole Foods.
dylan lussier
8:50 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sally, that is a very narrow minded view.
I have celiac and have to eat strictly gluten free. Market Basket is BY FAR the best store for gf goods at fair prices. Large selection and not ridiculously marked up.
So spend all your $ driving your suvs to blow money at WF.
John
9:01 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
MB may have low everyday prices; but Sally's comment was going for more competition being needed. There's many gaps in MB's natural/organic foods and Trader Joe's does natural/organic foods cheaper than MB. Frozen fruit bars are $1.99 at TJ and $3.19 at MB. I can get a box of Puffins 50% bigger at TJ than MB's box for the same price. Some veggies and dairy at MB is still cheaper, but it averages out to be 20% cheaper at TJ's from my experience. And still, Stop and Shop does have better specials. I recently got Larabars down to $.70 each at Stop and Shop for 16; would be hard pressed to do the same at MB. Plus, I got canteloupe and mayonaise down to almost free at S&S too.
John
9:12 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
And oh yeah; they're at the top of their game servicewise because they want the new store to make a good impression on people; but let's wait awhile and it'll get to what the Billerica stores are like. It's just what happens when there's no competition.
Mickey
9:29 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
No complementary coffee in New Market Basket:-(
John
7:00 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
"I've shopped at Market Basket for 50 plus years. They are unbeatable! When I see identical items in Hannaford for twice the price I have to wonder what's wrong with the people that shop there. And for kickers, MB has Walmart beat by a mile."
Decided to give MB a chance as I wanted deli meats from the counter up in Nashua recently. Well, all lines had 5 people waiting w/ about 10 on express and the deli counter was behind 25 numbers. Never I have seen Hannaford have that long of a backup; plus there's higher end options that are healthier at Hannaford (all natural turkey in store brand) for no more $$ than what MB charges for Sara Lee. Needless to say, I walked out empty handed and got served far faster at Hannaford despite it being relatively busy as well.
MB pricing is relatively good, but if you're really shopping on price, you'll do 15% better at a wholesale club for halfway decent quality items at Sam's or Costco or at Trader Joe's for natural products (some stuff is almost double the price at MB vs TJs) with many products being regularly priced at MB's sale prices. And Hannaford or Trader Joe's are clearly better choices for quality.
John
7:38 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
Did my own comparison shopping:
For crystallized ginger:
MB: $3.99 for 10 ounce package
Hannaford: $3.99/lb (available in bulk containers)
Trader Joe's: $1.49 for 8 ounce package
Barbara's Puffins:
MB: $3.99 for 10 ounces box
Hannaford; $4.29 for 10 ounce box
Trader Joes: $3.99 for 18 ounce box
Frozen Fruit bars:
MB: $3.49 (Edy's) (even with a sale price of $2.50 some weeks, it can't still come close to TJ's price)
Hannaford: $3.99 (Edy's)
TJ's: $1.99 (TJ & it is only 1/2 ounce less per pack total than the Edy's brand)
Decent frozen yogurt (that is minimally all natural):
MB: $2.69/pint (Stonyfield)
Hannaford $3.69/56 ounces (Blue Bunny)
TJ's: $3.99/quart (and it tastes the best and is rather quite healthy)
Decent peanut butter (cheapest peanut butter w/ only peanuts as the ingredient on back)
MB: $3.69
Hannaford: $3.59
TJ's: $2.69
Farmed salmon:
MB: $7.99 (w/ a sale of $6.99 lately)
Hannaford $7.99 (w/ a sale of $5.99 lately)
TJ's: $7.99 for a wild alaskan variety which is a different taste and experience; will admit this is not an apples to apples comparison against the former two
Decent wine that is cheap (tough comparison but here it is):
MB: $4.99
Hannaford: $3.99
TJ's: $3.49