Grocery wars continue with Lake Placid scoring big with Hannaford

Grocery stores are a big deal in the North Country, with some communities struggling along with no full-service groceries.

The Tri-Lakes area has been courting the Hannaford chain in recent months, with Saranac Lake first making a bid and then the company showing interest in Lake Placid.

The announcement comes today that Hannaford will open a full service supermarket and pharmacy in the old Tops Market site.

Here’s the full press release.

SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Hannaford Supermarkets announced May 12 that it has signed a lease agreement for a Hannaford store in the former Tops Market site in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Projected to open in the spring of 2011, the store – expected to be the 47th Hannaford in New York – will feature a butcher shop, produce and seafood departments, a bakery and a deli, and a full-service pharmacy.

“Our closest current location is in Plattsburg, which is a 45-minute drive from Lake Placid,” said Michael Norton, Hannaford spokesperson. “We look forward to providing area residents and visitors with an easy-to-shop Hannaford supermarket that offers a range of fresh, high-quality foods at great value and a convenient pharmacy.”

The 40,500-square-foot store in Cold Brook Plaza will employ about 100 associates, virtually all hired from surrounding communities.

Last year, Hannaford was named one of America’s 10 healthiest supermarkets by Health magazine.

Its stores offer a large selection of natural and organic products, many of them supplied by local farms through the company’s Close to Home program. All Hannaford stores also use Guiding Stars, an at-a-glance system that guides customers to foods with good, better and best nutritional value.

“We’ve found that programs such as Close to Home and Guiding Stars, combined with everyday low prices, earn strong approval from customers,” Norton said.

Hannaford additionally has a reputation for environmental stewardship. In July 2009, the company opened the world’s most environmentally advanced supermarket in Augusta, Maine. The U.S. Green Building Council awarded the store Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the USGBC’s highest standard.

Hannaford will apply many of those principles at the Lake Placid store, such as the use of energy-efficient lighting and refrigeration systems.

“We’ll also emphasize recycling cardboard, plastic and other materials in our daily operations – as we do in every Hannaford location – to increase efficiency and lessen environmental impact,” Norton said.

Hannaford Supermarkets, based in Scarborough, Maine, operates 174 stores and employs 27,000 associates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Most Hannaford locations have full-service pharmacies and all stores feature Guiding Stars, the nation’s first storewide nutrition navigation system.