Price Chopper set to expand

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. Price Chopper has identified 30 sites in the northeast for potential development over the next three to four years, according to ceo Neil Golub.

Golub stressed that store growth will come as a result of building new facilities, in addition to replacing, remodelling or expanding existing facilities. Acquisitions and new businesses, he said, will also contribute to the company’s expanded forecast.

"This year we're building four new stores, we're going through three major expansions, and two major replacements - which is really a load," Golub said.

The development will take place mainly in the retailer’s home market of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts: store expansions will take place in Saratoga, Malta and Granville, NY, store replacements in Colonie and Shrewsbury, MA, and new stores in Hamilton and Warwick, NY, and Durham, CT. Six thousand jobs are expected to be added as a result.

The company now has 116 stores in six states.

The retailer will also move its headquarters from its current location in Rotterdam Industrial Park to a currently vacant 9.5-acre parcel on Nott Street in Schenectady. Construction is expected to begin in September 2008 and will be finished in October 2009.

The $22 million head office will house around 750 employees, slightly more than are at the existing headquarters in Rotterdam because of the company’s projected growth.

Meanwhile, the company is building new warehouses in Rotterdam, which is expected to be complete within the next five years. The facilities will include a new 83,804-square-feet general merchandise warehouse, a nearly 30,000-square-foot addition to the grocery warehouse, over 27,000-square-feet addition to the perishable warehouse and a new 12,136 sq. ft. resource recovery center.

The new warehouses will boost employment from the current 800 people to between 1,100 and 1,200.