There’s some new news on the grocery store front in Providence (ok, not entirely new, but I’ve been a bit busy to post much). The old Valueland property on Smith Street in the Smith Hill neighborhood will become an ALDI Supermarket. It’s a low cost chain, from Germany with very few stores in the United States. This will be the first ALDI in Rhode Island and the 6th in New England. The chain is building a distribution center in Connecticut to serve the needs of those stores and plan for future expansion in New England. They also have plans for more locations in Rhode Island. This is good news in a year when Shaws closed 2 stores in Providence.
Speaking of Shaws, the article in the Providence Journal that announced the new grocery store for Smith Hill also had a short blurb at the end saying that the Price Rite in Olneyville Square will be moving to the former Shaws location in Eagle Square. I’m not sure how I feel about that as it still leaves an empty big box. Also, the Shaws location is bigger than Price Rite. So either they’re expanding or the location will be split into multiple units, something that was said would likely not happen.
In either case, this is good news for the people living around Eagle Square, bad news for the people that live near Olneyville Square, and great news for the people living in Smith Hill. The Valueland property is going to be divided into 3 units. A large one for ALDI, and 2 smaller ones. The councilman for the area hopes to get a pharmacy and a bank in there, both things that the neighborhood lacks.
Smith Hill wants retail – UrbanPlanet
Grocery stores in Greater Providence – UrbanPlanet
Previously on RunawayJim.org:
The future of Eagle Square
Eagle Square grocery store meeting
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