COLONIE — After months of renovations, the Market Bistro by Price Chopper at 873 Loudon Road in Latham has reopened as Market 32 with expanded prepared food options and a fresh look.
The grand opening of the refreshed store comes around a year after Price Chopper and Market 32 celebrated 10 years of the Market 32 brand. On Friday, dozens of Market 32 and Price Chopper leaders, community partners and teammates celebrated the reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This is a special day for all of us,” the company’s regional vice president of operations, Scott Sabatino, said during the ceremony. “Today’s celebration is more than a grand opening of a new Market 32. It’s about reaffirming our commitment to the Latham community.”
Renovations to the 88,000-square-foot grocery store include a patisserie with around triple the number of offerings and some breakfast options, a new Mongolian grill and the relocation of its in-store Starbucks to a larger space next to Ben and Bill’s deli, Market 32 and Price Chopper President Blaine Bringhurst told the Times Union. The company invested roughly $5 million into the renovations, Bringhurst said.
Price Chopper opened the former Market Bistro as a “concept” store in 2014. Originally, Market Bistro also had a cooking school as well as a fancier restaurant, Chef’s Table, that served special meals beyond the subs and burgers made in the various stalls. The school closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the restaurant was open until last spring.
Over the more than a decade the Market Bistro was open, Bringhurst said the company has noticed a growing consumer preference for “convenience, health and speed,” pushing the store to make decisions, such as expanding its grab-and-go options and adding a nutri-shop near the pharmacy with options including protein powders. Bringhurst added that customers have also become “more value conscious.”
“This really is a very fun store that is innovative and improved upon a great concept that will really take us into the next couple of years and lead our path forward,” Bringhurst said.
Price Chopper and Market 32, along with Tops Friendly Markets, make up what is known as Northeast Grocery, a supermarket holding company based in Schenectady. Market 32 is the most recently created of the three brands, launching in 2015, a year after the one-and-only Market Bistro opened in Latham.
Market 32 and Price Chopper have 128 locations and employ 15,500 people in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The company was started by the local Golub family in 1932. It came up with the Price Chopper name amid historic inflation in the 1970s when the U.S. was celebrating its 200th birthday, thus the red, white and blue theme.
Market 32 uses green and brown tones to highlight fresh produce and healthy, easy, quick meal options.
Larry Rulison contributed reporting.