Stop & Shop closing 2 Long Island grocery delivery facilities in October

Stop & Shop is scheduled to close two of its small-footprint grocery delivery facilities next month while the company and the union representing delivery drivers near the end of contract negotiations that have lasted more than a year, union officials said.

Stop & Shop’s "warerooms" in East Northport and Riverhead will be closed sometime in October, the company confirmed Monday, adding that the supermarket will continue to operate other delivery facilities in Farmingdale and Medford. The grocery stores in East Northport and Riverhead will remain open.

Warerooms are smaller warehouses connected to stores that facilitate grocery deliveries to online customers. 

The closure of the two Long Island warerooms follows a larger plan to close seven similar facilities throughout the Northeast, a spokeswoman for the Quincy, Massachusetts-based retailer said Monday.

"Stop & Shop has made the difficult decision to close a total of seven warerooms across our operating area this fall," Jennifer Barr, director of external communications and community relations for Stop & Shop, said in an e-mailed statement.

"We anticipate that the Long Island warerooms will close by October 2025, however Stop & Shop will continue to offer online pickup and delivery to all local customers after the facility closures," the company said. "Stop & Shop will also continue to operate our local warerooms in Farmingdale and Medford."

In 2021, Stop & Shop had six wareroom facilities across Long Island. In April 2024, the supermarket chain closed its Hempstead wareroom, and in early 2022 it closed its South Setauket facility, Barr said.

The closure of the local facilities coincides with contract negotiations between the supermarket chain and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 342, which represents the delivery drivers.

Delivery drivers at the closing warerooms will remain employed by the company, according to the union representing the drivers.

The union has been in negotiations over a new four-year contract for the drivers since May 2024, said Keeley Lampo, director of activities and communications for UFCW Local 342.

However, a new contract is expected to be finalized shortly, she said.

"I anticipate a positive outcome," Lampo said, adding that the two parties have reached a tentative deal and are awaiting a ratification vote by membership. "We are hoping that it comes to a ratification."

The union represents approximately 160 delivery drivers on Long Island and approximately 2,100 total members — largely supermarket workers — across Nassau and Suffolk, Lampo said.