CAPITAL DISTRICT – Price Chopper/Market 32, the Schenectady-based supermarket chain, recently announced that it purchased the leases, store equipment and fixtures of all five of Shoprite’s Capital District stores that closed earlier this month. Price Chopper will immediately begin converting the Niskayuna and East Greenbush stores into Market 32 locations, but plans for the other three sites are to be determined, according to the company.
The company’s purchase of the leases and assets for three Shoprite locations — Colonie, Albany and Slingerlands — that are in close proximity to existing Price Choppers has raised questions about Price Chopper’s motive and whether the purchase was made to squelch competition. Vice President of Public Relations and Consumer Services Mona Golub said that no competitors have complained to them and that “our customers are thrilled we’re still here operating and to serve them.”
“We intend to remain highly competitive and to work hard to earn our business from customers in the Capital Region where we have an over 92 year history,” said Golub.
When asked whether Price Chopper and Shoprite had conversations in advance of Shoprite’s decision to close regarding whether Price Chopper would buy the leases if Shoprite closed, Golub responded, “I won’t speak to the details of the deal — financial or otherwise.”
In 2021, Assistant Attorney General Saami Zain of the New York State Attorney General’s Antitrust Bureau, handled an investigation and negotiation of an agreement with Price Chopper relating to its merger with Tops supermarkets. According to a November 2021 release issued by the Attorney General, that investigation was settled by requiring the divestment of 11 stores located in New York to preserve “more choices and competition at the supermarket” for “better prices and more savings for consumers.”
As for Price Chopper’s recent purchase of the five Shoprite leases and assets, Zain said he had not been aware of this transaction, but did not think there would be a legal problem if the Shoprite stores were closing and otherwise were going to remain vacant. However, he said that if it was discovered that there was another interested purchaser and “Price Chopper won the bid, that might change the dynamic.”
The purchase, which was completed before it was announced, will give Price Chopper “an opportunity to expand our Market 32 stores into newer, larger facilities,” said Golub. She said the company has internal experts who are assessing the Shoprite fixture and store equipment to decide what Price Chopper/Market 32 can use “because Market 32 has a distinctive feel.”
Golub also said the company is still deciding what to do with the Colonie site and whether it will be used to develop another Market 32. Ultimately, however, only one store will remain in that area after that decision is made. “We will determine which of the two locations we will go with and will accept only one for a Market 32, which will occupy either the Colonie Plaza where they already are or where the Colonie Shoprite was,” Golub said.
As to whichever building is not selected, Golub said, referring to the Colonie and Albany store sites, ”it is to be determined what is to be done with those buildings and it will depend on which store we move forward with for both.“
Village of Colony Mayor Tom Tobin said he was “stunned” when he heard the Shoprite was closing and about Price Chopper purchasing the leases and assets. He said the Village received no advance notice of either event, but was “glad to see something is happening.”
“That something is happening is positive information for us and for the people of Colonie.” Tobin said. He said that although he did not know what Price Chopper planned to do with the property, “the public knows something will happen there and the store won’t stand for months or years without something happening.”
He also said he did not know what would happen with the gas station on the Colonie property, but said if Price Chopper does not want to operate a gas station, it could potentially be turned into a drive through bank. “We are not concerned because we look at it in a positive way and we go forward that way at this point,” he said.
Golub said the gas station is already being marketed. “We have a fuel program and partnerships in the fuel industry, so we are looking to see who might be interested because we are looking to spin it off,” she said.
As for the Slingerlands former Shoprite, Golub said the company is marketing that location for a sublease. She said, “the deal was for five stores, equipment and fixtures.” When asked whether purchasing the Slingerlands store was a condition of the deal, Golub said she would not speak to the deal details because they are proprietary, but “you can take what I implied regarding Price Chopper.”
Although the future of the former Slingerlands Shoprite remains undetermined, it will not be a Price Chopper/Market 32, according to Golub. One already exists across the street. “Real estate experts are looking at it so we don’t know yet whether it will be one or multiple tenants.” She said the company would like to lease the space to any “business interested in being in that community.”
“We are ready and willing to work with Price Chopper to find tenants,” Bethlehem Senior Economic Developer John Taylor said, “when they are ready, we are here.”
The 65,000 square foot Shoprite stores in Slingerlands’ Vista Park and the Village of Colonie store on Central Avenue both had received funding or tax relief because they were new locations and expected to hire many employees. The incentives were controversial at the time because of the use of public money to incentivize the use of the locations. The Slingerlands store opened in 2012 and the Colonie store opened in 2013.
The Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency had provided $1.14 million in sales tax and mortgage recording tax exemptions, plus real property tax exemptions for 12 years, to assist the purchase of the seven acre parcel acquired by Shoprite and building the supermarket, according to IDA records. The property, which has an assessed value of $7, 700,000, will be fully returned to the tax rolls starting in 2025. As of this school year, the property has already been restored to the Bethlehem Central School District tax roll for 90% of the full tax and will be at 100% at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Similarly, the Town and Albany County taxes will be at the 90% tax rate in January 2024 and then fully restored to 100% in January 2025.
According to the latest full year of payment records, the 2022 Payment In Lieu of Taxes totaled $204, 602, including County, Town and School, EMS, sewer and fire PILOTs. When asked whether the Bethlehem IDA would consider another PILOT for a new tenant, Taylor said the IDA reviews applications on a case by case basis, but by state law, retail projects are no longer eligible for IDA financial assistance.
Vista had originally been envisioned as a technology park, but no technology tenants were secured until Plug Power, a fuel cell manufacturer, moved in last year. Until then, what was supposed to be a base for technology was another retail strip mall. ShopRite had been its first tenant.
And, while Plug Plower moved in last year, Plug Power has recently had its own problems. On November 9, after it issued a “going concern warning”, its stock price fell 40% to $5.93/share. A going concern warning is required by the federal Securities Exchange Commission when a company’s accountants fear a company may default on some of its debt in the next 12 months.
Job losses from the Shoprite closings in Colonie and Slingerlands stand at just over 200 employees with about half of those losses occurring at each of those stores, according to WARN notices filed by Shoprite with the New York State Department of Labor. Golub said Price Chopper has been interviewing and has begun to hire former Shoprite employees, but does not know how many it will hire. However, she said, “we are always hiring as a company and welcome anyone interested in joining the team, particularly in this environment.”
“Our chain is here to stay” Golub said. “Being able to open four more Market 32s is an exciting opportunity and it’s good for the customers because they have more access.”