Summer Solstice Supermarket Special: A Look Inside Delmar Marketplace

In this summer special, we start the season with a look at a small grocery store in the Albany suburb of Delmar.

The John & Mary's Grocery in Delmar Marketplace has been owned by John and Mary Hooper since September 2011, though this store is certainly much older. If anything, the vinyl siding seems to hide the bones of a much older building, as this was a store called Empire, as shown in the Albany Suburban  Chain Grocery/Supermarket locations, 1925-2005 under the 1956 and 1960 sections. Also present within is McCarroll's The Village Butcher and Deli, which originally in 1921 on Central Avenue in Albany, moving here many decades later. Four Corners Frame Shop on the left rounds out the tenant list.

This Subway was formerly Cyndarella's Subs until about 2009, and before that it was a Mr. Subb.

Front of the store. Curiously the entry doors are manual while the exit doors are automatic.

McCarroll's was not open at the time of this visit. Also of note is the deli, meat, and seafood service areas used to be a yellow-orange color while the wall next to it (where the butter and eggs signs are) was a dark brown. At some point all of these walls were painted green, with most of the signage removed altogether, while other signs were replaced with monochrome ones.

A quick look at produce to conclude this tour. But before we go, we need to collect the cart tax.

As you probably saw in the first interior picture, the store's carts consist of two older models from two different manufacturers. The top one is a Unarco with the Delmar Marketplace name on it from 1996 and the bottom one is a United without provisions for child seating and a blank yellow handle insert, which was manufactured around 1984.

Newer store, older look

Price Chopper #164

Opened: 1999

Location: 6025 New York Route 5, Palatine Bridge, NY

Date Photographed: June 18, 2024

I decided to return to this rural Price Chopper as it resembles the Spencer, MA location, as documented by The Market Report. Definitely check that one out and compare it to this store!

Also of note are the full drop ceilings and pink floor tile, both are odd features for a store of 1999. The drop ceiling may be due to the store's smaller size.

One obvious difference you will notice here is the presence of a pharmacy, something the Spencer store does not.

Produce takes up the entirety of what would be the "grand aisle". Seafood is right up ahead.

Fresh Bakery, which for some reason uses orange letters that almost blend into the yellow wall they are on.

Frozen foods, which bears some unique tile striping that was once very common in older stores.

Deli, which just happens to be next to the registers and in the front right corner as well.

Alcoholic beverages and dairy line the right hand wall.

Bread aisle. Instead of condiments and canned vegetables lining the other side of the aisle, cereal does.

Front end, which has the self-checkouts labeled as 1/2, 3/4 as opposed to 7 and 8. The Guest Services area is on the wall between each entrance/exit.

The right side of the vestibule, which has a strange door leading in and out of the checkout area. If anything, it should have been an exit only. So that concludes our comparison store.

Replacements on Central Ave

In today's special blog post, we will be covering two newly-opened Market 32 stores on Central Ave in the Albany area and the stores they replaced.

COLONIE 52

Today marks the grand opening for our four ex-ShopRite turned Market 32 stores. Not not many shoppers were around at 8 a.m., and with CBS 6 Albany being distracted by the Niskayuna store opening near their studio, no media was present, which made for a serene scene.

Apart from the oddly-placed Market 32 logo, there is a lot of empty space on the facade. The vestibule was split between both entrances. Each vestibule has its own cart bay. Also of note is that the cart corrals were recycled from ShopRite. The actual carts are your standard Market32 plastic Versacart TT-100 and V-Series 172L models.

Foodfare is on an island, like it had when this space was occupied by ShopRite.

Produce (not shown) is on the right-hand wall, with bakery taking the diagonal corner.

The kosher department is attached to the back of the service island, before the health and beauty aisle.

Health and beauty, with the pharmacy being on an island, a feature retained from the ShopRite layout.

Front end, with plenty of checkouts open.

Parts of the 12th, 13th, and 14th aisles house frozen foods.

Dairy is located along the back wall and the 14th aisle.

Back at #224, it is mostly empty as the store closed the day before. As it is early days, the signs have not been taken down yet. As this store is now empty, the Colonie Plaza is now left with only a Dollar Tree and Retro Fitness (which was Price Chopper #104, which got replaced with this store in June 2009).

ALBANY 43

Like what we saw in Colonie, this store has the same problem with empty space on the facade. The placement of the logo on the left gives you a good idea on which side of the store has the grand aisle.

Produce and baked goods line the left-hand wall at this store.

Unlike Colonie, this one does not appear to have a Kosher section.

Health and Beauty. This store does not have a pharmacy.

Dairy lines the back right wall and 14th aisle of this store.

As for Westgate #133, it is the end of an era. The store with an expanded International section and green Rehrigs is no more. Goodbye, my old friend.