Stop & Shop has updated a store in Boston’s Grove Hall neighborhood to focus on community health and wellness.
Reopened August 19, the Grove Hall Stop & Shop at 460 Blue Hill Ave. features a new look and community wellness space designed to host health-focused programs free of charge. The store also now includes an in-store dietitian offering free nutritional advice and information through one-on-one consultations, community classes and webinars.
Starting next month, the community wellness space at the Grove Hall location will offer free programs such as plant-based diets across cultures, high blood pressure classes and help with buying healthy groceries through store visits. Stop & Shop, based in Quincy, Mass., which is part of Ahold Delhaize USA, also said the programming will also extend beyond nutrition education to offer courses on buying a first. home and financial well-being.
The wellness area will also include a blood pressure and health assessment kiosk that will allow shoppers to measure, track and act on their health data, according to Stop & Shop. The exterior of the space will be featured with a 25-foot display of healthier foods and beverages chosen by Stop & Shop’s team of registered dietitians. Additionally, the retailer plans to highlight healthier choices in a weekly flyer for Grove Hall customers, which will feature savings on items such as healthy proteins, fruits, vegetables and whole grains on the cover. .
With the store refresh, Stop & Shop also became the first grocer in the city to offer Flashfood, an app-based food waste reduction program that allows customers to purchase exclusive deals on products – including meat, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, deli meats and bakery products – which are approaching their expiry date. The dramatically reduced prices encourage purchases of food that would otherwise go into the retailer’s waste stream. Stop & Shop said Flashfood discounts are up to 50% off and can save customers more than $500 a year on their food bills.
Stop & Shop noted that it chose the Grove Hall store for the health-focused upgrade due to high rates of nutrition-related chronic diseases in the surrounding area, coupled with high rates of food insecurity and residents living below the poverty line. The retailer said this has created an opportunity for the store to take an active role in driving healthier outcomes through diet-focused wellness initiatives.
“As Grove Hall’s neighborhood grocer, we believe we have a responsibility to support the health of the community, and we are proud of the investments we have made to provide one-of-a-kind resources and programs to a food retailer in the city,” Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement. “We are also extremely proud of the work we have done to support local non-profit organizations, public schools and other neighborhood partners with innovative programs to support more consistent access to nutritious food.”
