Stop & Shop Closing New Hampshire Stores, Gas Stations

QUINCY, Mass. -- The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. revealed plans to close its six Stop & Shop stores and three gas stations in New Hampshire, effectively exiting the state. The locations in Bedford, Hudson, Exeter, Milford and two in Manchester will close by Sept. 21.

“We continually assess our stores and operating performance,” said Joe Kelley, president of Stop & Shop's New England Division in Quincy, Mass. “Our six stores in New Hampshire have not achieved performance goals after many years of investment and we have made the difficult decision to close these underperforming stores. This action will allow us to focus our investment and resources on continuing to grow our business in other areas of the Northeast.”

Kelley further said the company is "sensitive" to the impact this decision will have on the stores' associates, customers and the communities served. The locations have been open since 2003.

Stop & Shop will work with Dedham, Mass.-based United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445 and state and local government officials to offer job search assistance and support affected employees. Store closing information will be distributed at each location as it becomes available.

Fellow New England supermarket chain Shaw’s announced last month that it will also close six New Hampshire stores by early September and has already shuttered six Rhode Island and Massachusetts locations, all due to underperformance.