Shaws Supermarket
Shaws History
The Shaws supermarket began with two separate stores in two different states
that converged to become today’s second-largest supermarket company in New
England, second only to Stop and Shop*. Shaws Supermarkets has 169 stores in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Shaws employs approximately 30,000 associates.
A Vermont native, George C. Shaw moved to Portland, Maine in 1860 and opened
a small shop in downtown Portland and called it Shaw's China Tea Store. Over time
he expanded the shop to include fresh foods and groceries. In 1872 Shaws opened
a second store in Portland which lead to increased sales which led to the opening of
another larger grocery store in 1881.
At this same time Maynard A. Davis of Poland, Maine, moved to Pawtucket, Rhode
Island, where he worked as a store clerk. By 1896, Davis and a friend had opened
a public market in Providence, Rhode Island but sold his company in 1899 and
moved to Massachusetts and started the Brockton Public Market (BPM). The
venture was highly successful and he soon opened stores in Bridgewater, New
Bedford, and Rockland, Massachusetts.
In 1919 BPM established Shaws as it’s subsidiary by buying the controlling interest
in the company. Together, Shaw and Davis remodeled their stores to become what
were considered the most modern grocery stores in New England fully competing
with regional and national chains. The stores built upon a strong reputation of value
and specialty foods and services that included home delivery and telephone orders
plus fresh-baked bread, fresh roasted and ground coffee, and roasted turkeys.
Following World War II, Davis saw the need to expanding services to the suburbs
as the population began to shift from the downtown urban centers outside the
cities. Shaws opened its first supermarket in South Portland, Maine in a Shopping
Center and soon opened more supermarkets in southern Maine. BPM grew at the
same time and began a centralized distribution system for both stores by building a
warehouse in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Shaws continued to expand other parts of Maine and south into New Hampshire
and Massachusetts. BPM expanded stores into southern Massachusetts. This
growth led to further expansion of the warehousing and distribution center. The
success of companies led to a merger in 1979 as the George C. Shaw Co. and BPM
merged to form Shaws Supermarkets, Inc. Shaws Supermarkets was chosen
because of the extensive marketing and advertising that was associated with the
Shaw’s store name and brands.
Shaws had grown to 41 stores by 1983 and in New England. In September of that year At that time Shaws announced J Sainsbury PLC, England's largest
supermarket company, purchased a share of the company. In 1986 the company
went public and by 1987 Sainsbury was the majority shareholder and took
over management of the chain expanding sales and stores through building and
acquisitions of other regional stores including Star Market.
In 2004, Sainsbury sold Shaw’s to Albertsons and in 2006 a partnership including
SuperValu, acquired Albertsons.
The company has always been quick to accept industry innovation. BPM was the
second supermarket company in the United States to test scanning technology. In
1974 testing began and after two years the BPM store in Randolph, Massachusetts
went live with the new checkout technology. Within three years Shaw's had
installed scanners in all of its stores. Self checkout followed in the late 1990s when
Shaws moved to stay ahead of its competitors with the testing of self-checkout
systems, the first in New England. Shaw's began a pilot program of self-checkout
lanes was highly successful and is now the utilized in their stores and many of their
competitors throughout New England.
Shaws Supermarket Locations
Shaw’s has ten grocery stores in Rhode Island, nineteen in Vermont, twenty-two in Maine,
thirty four in New Hampshire, and eighty four in Massachusetts (including twelve
operating as Star Market).
Special Services
The Shaws Card is a reward card required to purchase weekly card specials listed
in the circulars and provides exclusive offers on many products . The card may also
be registered to be used with the U promise program and automatically enters you
into sweepstake promotions.
Weekly emails from Shaws offer exclusive savings with coupons sent to your
computer of hand held device. Sign up on line and these exclusive offers can be
downloaded, printed and brought to your local store. The coupons are primarily for
Shaws grocery store brand products.
Sales Cycles
Shaws sales cycles begin on Fridays and end on Thursdays.
Shaws Circular
The Shaws circular appears in the Thursday edition of most major and local newspapers and
the Shaws circular can also be found online at the Shaws website.
Coupon Policy
Doubling of Manufacturer Coupons:
Shaws doubles valid manufacturers’ coupons that have a face a value up to 99¢.
Coupons with a face value over 99¢ are redeemed at face value only.
Coupons that state “do not double” or “free” will not be doubled.
No more than FOUR “like” (same UPC) coupons will be doubled per customer, per
day. Any additional coupon(s) may be accepted at face value (not doubled) based
upon product availability.
Competitor coupons are not accepted.
Coupon amount may be reduced so that any combined discounts and coupons
(including doubling) do not exceed the value of the item.
Coupon must have a valid scan able barcode and a valid date to be accepted.
One store coupon and one valid manufacturer coupon may be applied to an item.
ONE mfg BOGO coupon, ONE mfg “buy 2 get $$ off” coupon, or ONE “buy 1 and
get $$ off” may be accepted per BOGO offer. No other coupons accepted for free or
BOGO items.
Transactions may not be separated for the purpose of circumventing coupon
policies.
Shaws supermarket reserves the right to limit quantities of product sold.
Photo copied, altered and/or fraudulent coupons will not be accepted.
Manufacturers’ Internet Coupons follow the same policies stated above (and to
the left) along with the following restrictions: Coupons must be printed from a
computer printer (no copies) and must scan. Manufacturer internet coupons for free
product (including buy one/get one free) or that have a value greater than $4.99
are NOT accepted.
Shaws Internet Coupons are accepted with some restrictions. All coupon
requirements must be met. The coupons must state “Shaws” and be printed froma computer printer (no copies). Unless otherwise stated, limit ONE coupon of each
type per customer per day. Shaws Internet Coupons will not exceed $10, will not
be doubled and cannot exceed the value of the item(s) purchased.
Shaws Store Policies
Satisfaction Guarantee- If you buy something at Shaws supermarket that is not all you expected
it to be, it may be returned to the store for a complete refund, exchange or
adjustment. A proof of purchase may be required.
Shaws Slogan
Crazy about food
Jumpstartshopping.com covers the Shaws circular every week. To find out the best grocery deals then subscribe to find out about the Shaws circular. |
