Golub Corp., operator of the Price Chopper chain, on Tuesday announced plans to rebrand its 135 stores under a new banner, Market 32, saying the change represents “a complete refocus on the core values that our customers are looking for in a store.”
The Schenectady, N.Y.-based company said the change would take place over several years, beginning with conversions of existing Price Chopper stores in Clifton Hills, N.Y.; Wilton, N.Y.; and Pittsfiled, Mass., beginning next spring. A ground-up Market 32 will commence construction Wednesday in Sutton, Mass.
A second wave of conversions will begin over the next 18 months and encompass another 10 to 15 stores, Price Chopper said. More than half of the chain will be completed within five years, representing a $300 million investment.
Officials said Market 32 builds on learnings from Price Chopper’s foodservice-oriented Market Bistro concept, and will include expanded foodservice options, an enhanced product mix and a new emphasis on customer service.
“This is not merely about beautifying our Price Chopper stores. It is a complete refocus of our company on the core values of what our customers are looking for in a store,” Jerry Golub, Price Chopper’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We will be re-engineering nearly every facet of the store, beginning with the name but extending into our marketing, product selection, services offered and customer focus. Our investment in this transformation reflects not only the position of strength from which we take this calculated risk, but our determination to set a new and higher more customer-focused standard that will engage and inspire shoppers for decades to come.”
The new name references 1932, when the family-run company was founded by Bill and Ben Golub. The company’s stores were originally known as Public Service Market, then Central Market, before switching to the Price Chopper name in the early 1970s.