The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known simply as Stop & Shop, is a grocery chain which is predominant in the Northeast. Stop & Shop has a long history over a century. In 1914, the Rabinowitz family started it as a small grocery store in Somerville, Massachusetts and they called it Economy Grocery Store. In a couple of years, they transformed it into a modern self-service grocery store format which was being pioneered by Piggly Wiggly at the time.

In the beginning, they were only offering grocery items but more products such as meat, dairy, and frozen foods were added afterward. In a short period of time, their business turned into a store where the customers could find all sorts of different food items. The stores were spacious, they were anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. In 1942, the company was officially rebranded to Stop & Shop and by 1947, it expanded to 86 stores. In Massachusetts, many stores were opened mainly in suburban areas and in shopping plazas. By the late 1960s, they started offering non-food items in their stores. During the 1980s, the size of the stores doubled or even tripled in sizes, anywhere from 30,000 square feet to 80,000 square feet on average. Considering the huge size of these stores, they also started featuring bakeries, pharmacies, banks, deli sections, cafes, or even salad bars which weren’t common in other supermarkets. They also continued this trend in the 2000s.

In 2006, Stop & Shop signed an agreement with Starbucks in order to open the chain’s coffee shops in its stores. A similar agreement was also made with Dunkin’ Donuts so they can feature its outlets as well. In 2006, Stop & Shop introduced the innovative Shopping Buddy program in some of their stores. It’s basically a personal shopping assistant which allows you to keep track of your purchases and do in-cart bagging while you do your shopping. Today Stop & Shop operates stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. The ones in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have a very solid client base. The stores outnumber their competitors greatly in those three aforementioned states.

Today, Stop & Shop is a household name and a pioneer in the retail grocery industry. Everyone loves Stop & Shop because it’s constantly expanding, providing innovative solutions and excellent service to its customers.