Price Chopper/Market 32 closing Colonie store and moving into old ShopRite location
SLINGERLANDS – Bethlehem residents will continue waiting to hear news on what new neighbor will occupy the former ShopRite store in the Slingerlands Vista Technology Campus. The 65,000 square foot site, which closed in December 2023, has remained vacant ever since.
In November 2023, Price Chopper/Market 32, the Schenectady-based supermarket chain, announced that it purchased the leases, store equipment and fixtures of all five of Shoprite’s Capital District stores that closed in December. The Slingerlands store and the Village of Colonie store on Central Avenue were among those stores.
In a mid-February press release, Price Chopper/Market 32 announced plans to move existing Price Chopper stores into four of the former ShopRite sites it had acquired, including its Colonie location. The Slingerlands store did not make that list. Instead, the Slingerlands store will remain in its present location. “That store was recently renovated,” Price Chopper/Market 32 spokesperson Jon Pierce said. “So it made sense not to go to the expense of moving it because it already had a great location and is a great store.”
Major grocery contenders Aldi, Wegmans and Trader Joe’s seemingly have no plans to move into the abandoned Slingerlands ShopRite space. In October 2023, Wegmans reported it had no plans to enter the Albany market. Trader Joe’s, which lists on its website stores soon to be opened, had no listing for Slingerlands.
Aldi, the discounted German supermarket chain, has announced plans to move into Latham, but no such plans have been announced for Slingerlands. At a March 12 Town of Colonie Planning Board meeting Aldi, represented by APD Engineering and Architecture, proposed building a 20,644 square foot grocery store at 829-831 Loudon Road (Route 9), about one quarter of a mile north of the Latham Traffic circle.
In the meantime, according to the February press release, Price Chopper/Market 32 will continue to “work with landlords and local officials to market” the former ShopRite in Slingerlands and the former Price Chopper site in Colonie Plaza. Town of Bethlehem Senior Economic Developer John Taylor said he has met with the Slingerlands ShopRite property owner and Price Chopper to explain Town zoning and options. “We are here to help identify potential tenants,” he said. “Everyone involved wants to fill that space and it will be put to good use.”
According to Taylor, the space could be used for a range of options, including a grocery store, retail or other services. He said it could be developed with smaller spaces.He noted that ultimately the decision rests with Price Chopper and the property owner. Pierce said it is “highly unlikely” the Slingerlands space will be leased to another grocery store.
Taylor said he does not know when the space will be put back in use but he is “optimistic.” “The property owner and Price Chopper are looking for the right tenant or mix of tenants. They are working on that. It takes time,” Taylor said.
With Plug Power moving its headquarters to Vista, more groceries may be sold at the Slingerlands Price Chopper/Market 32. “We hope it [Plug Power expansion] is good for business,” said Pierce. “We are looking forward to providing them with a great shopping experience in that store.”
As for the other four former ShopRite locations, in Niskayuna, Albany, Colonie and North Greenbush, they will all be converted into Market 32s. Pierce said construction has begun on those new locations and the company hopes to open the new stores by the end of summer or sooner, depending on construction variables.
Price Chopper’s Colonie location will continue to offer “The Kosher Store” – a store within a store and the Capital Region’s only kosher market – which will also move to the future Market 32 location in Colonie.
According to a statement by Price Chopper/Market 32 President Blaine Bringhurst, the two older Price Chopper stores in Colonie and Westgate Plaza are being replaced “with the signature design and features of our Market 32 brand, which are customer driven through market research.”
