The NARDI Construction Archives: Shoppers Edition

Welcome back once again to the Shoppes of Battery Mill, where blogging is a pleasure (or something like that!)

This blog post is part of a discovery I've had in my hands for quite some time, part of two portfolio PDFs from NARDI Construction.

Now what is this, you may ask? NARDI Construction is a firm based out of Beltsville, Maryland. The organization has attached their name to dozens of building projects in the Washington, D.C. area and beyond, making a mark in the local retail scene alongside. While NARDI has been known primarily for constructing shopping centers and malls, they also maintained a working relationship with supermarket chain Shoppers Food Warehouse in the 1990s. This is what I will be focusing on for this post, though I do plan on exploring the rest of their archives down the line.

With that being said, let's get it started! I will showcase a few exteriors of Shoppers stores worked on by NARDI, in store opening order before we dive in to the rest.

Exterior photos

The collection begins with the Takoma Park, Maryland Shoppers (store #19/2340). While this location dates back to the Jumbo Food days (pre-1980), it was expanded and remodeled in its years under the Shoppers name, most notably to the Shoppers Club moniker in the mid-1990s. This location closed in the late 2019 wave and was sold to German discounter Lidl along with several others. I do quite like the orange bevel accent at the end of the facade here.

Next, here is the Woodbridge, Virginia location (store #45/2361), which opened as a Shoppers Club in early 1994. I covered this location in 2016, prior to closing, and today it stands as a Hobby Lobby which has gutted traces of Shoppers like the Takoma Park Lidl has. To the right is a Trak Auto (now Advance Auto Parts), and in the front is an empty pad site (now a Mission BBQ).

In my personal opinion, I have a soft spot for this facade - it matched the aesthetic of the nearby Potomac Mills mall and conveys a rather industrial quality. It was unfortunately replaced with a generic facade in a remodel.

Rounding out exterior photos, we travel to the Cloppers Mill center in Germantown, Maryland (store #46/2358). This center was profiled by NARDI as breaking ground in early November 1994 and finishing in September 1995. Of the three, it is still operating as Shoppers in 2022 and is notably the only Shoppers build to feature open-truss ceilings.

To the left is a standalone Chevy Chase Bank. Not so long ago they were a major fixture in Washington, D.C.-area shopping centers, heralded by a Benjamin Franklin lookalike inviting customers over to "The Leading Local Bank". Then everything changed when the CapitalOne nation swooped in, with these buildings now disappearing due to a shift to online banking. The site is now home to a Dunkin' Donuts in place. It's unfortunate for those fancy Federalist designs - where would one be able to ask for dollars when everything's now digital?

In the words of Steve Jobs, one more thing: this close-up of the facade. This one may have been taken a few years into the center's existence, as storefront advertising has changed slightly from the plain red and white posters featured earlier on.

Before I begin these interior photos, I would like to note that they are from several different locations, none of which have been specified (although NARDI has listed several Shoppers which they worked on).

Now it's time. Let's enter through the automatic doors and travel back into Shoppers' heyday, once again.

Interior photos

 

Our savings start here, and so does this store tour! We get introduced to the inside via the pleasant aromas and sights that behold us in the floral department, clad in reflective slatted walls, swooping accents, neon, and grid lighting. While Shoppers had long invested in fresh flowers, the Shoppers Club concept expanded the selection greatly, defining the chain for years to come.

In the background, we have a partial view into the Shoppers Café dining area and a "Restrooms" sign. This layout configuration would carry over into Shoppers stores built in the 2000s.

Turning to the left, we have prepared foods counters and shelves at a glance. This was another defining feature of Shoppers Clubs which I first touched on in my overview of the College Park site. This time, however, we get a closer look at the deli and hot foods portion, with soda/coffee fountains taking center stage. I must say, SFW was quite ahead of its time here!

Here is a closeup of the "Hot to Go" counter, displaying a buffet of warm delicacies. At the left of the photo, Shoppers touts its paninis for only $2.98 - a deal, I must reckon!

This is likely from a different location than the photo above, seeing as sunlight from the café windows is present to the right. Though bear with me, I may be wrong.

Just across the actionway is another Shoppers layout standby, the corner produce department. This happens to be a shot similar to that of College Park's produce, though it appears to be slightly smaller and with fluorescent as opposed to mercury vapor lighting eminating from the ceiling.

Before we check out, let's hop back over to the prepared foods side of things, of stuff, and of sorts combined. We are adjacent to Shoppers' expansive cheese, deli meat and edge produce selections, though we can also see further into the store in greater detail. In case you forgot this was "Shoppers Club", you can go get a Club Pak of steak before rounding the corner into the rest of the supermarket.

While we have seen our fair share of neon accents, the bakery and seafood departments are where Shoppers' neon delight continues to unravel. I just hope somebody got ahold of that wavy fixture next to "Fresh Fish"!

We close out this tour at no other place than the checkouts. In this photo from November 1996, we see a good glimpse into the aisle markers, express lane signage, Shoppers instruction manual, and tabloids too.

As opposed to being from Shoppers Clubs, this happens to be a photo of a standard late 1980s-early 1990s purpose-built Shoppers warehouse. This design is smaller than what came after, and features a distinct alcove going across the front end. This photo also marks first time I've seen orange warehouse racks in this era of SFW, interestingly.

Before we head off, let's go over some of the steps we need to take to save at Shoppers:

1.  ?
2.  ?
3. "U Pack Your Order"
4. "U Load Your Car"
5. "U Do a Little, U Save a Lot"
   

As you can see I can't quite get a glimpse of the first two directions, but I think it's suitable at this point of our grocery trip. If anyone could help find the rest of them to better our Shoppers store trips, it would be great. All constructive comments are appreciated, as always. Just before we get home, though...

Bonus Photos

Here is a look at the former South Valley shopping center in the Hybla Valley neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, also a NARDI project. I chose to feature this center primarily as, upon its reconstruction, it was unified with the Mt. Vernon Plaza to the north which indeed features a Shoppers.

 

The center was comprised of two stories of retail and also once featured Kmart (store #3712), which closed in 2000. Upon Kmart vacating the space, the center was abandoned and demolished for Home Depot which currently stands.

Anyhow, thanks for reading as always!

-BatteryMill