By STEVE FREKER
For the first time in decades, there will be no supermarket at the western corner of a well-known Medford shopping plaza located near the Malden city line.
Speculation began about a week ago about the Stop & Shop supermarket now operating at 471 Salem St. at the corner of Fellsway West at the Medford Plaza. Rumors of its closing after four and half years at that location were circulating within the past several weeks.
On Tuesday, rumors turned into reality when Target Corp. announced it was leasing the space and opening a “small-format” store at the Stop & Shop site, projected by March 2018.
Target has opened 30 small-format stores nationwide since a November 2016 press conference where Chief Executive Officer Brian Connell announced that “hundreds” of these new-style stores would follow across the country.
“(Densely populated), urban areas and college towns are Target’s focus for small-format locations,” said an online description of the small-format concept. Medford, home to Tufts University, fits that profile and a few hundred yards east, the city of Malden also fits the bill.
Target tailors each small-format store’s product lineup to the local area, ranging from apparel, home goods, baby products, convenient foods and other essentials, according to that report.
Target’s expected customer base is in Medford and Malden.
“We believe the Medford Target store will offer an inspirational quick-stop shopping experience for the many families who live and work in Medford and Malden,” Mark Schindele, Target senior vice president for properties, said in a company statement.
“We are excited to join the historic Medford community beginning next year so that we can serve local guests with the best that Target has to offer, including fresh groceries, apparel and accessories for the whole family and our convenient Order Pickup service,” Schindele said. The new small-format store also plans to have a CVS Pharmacy service inside the facility.
When the new Target opens next March, it will be the 33rd Target store in the greater Boston area and the sixth small-format store. The closest one in operation at this time is at Redstone Plaza in Stoneham next to LA Fitness, the site of a former Shaw’s supermarket.
The existing Stop & Shop supermarket opened at the 471 Salem St. location in January 2013, replacing the former Foodmaster supermarket which had operated as “Foodmaster” and “Johnnie’s Foodmaster” since the 1970s.
In 2013, Stop & Shop put $400,000 on renovations at the store to outfit as its new store brand. Two other Stop & Shop stores will remain in the area after the Salem Street, Medford location closes as expected at the end of this summer, one about a mile away at 760 Fellsway, Medford and a second one about three miles away at 99 Charles St., Malden.
