Park n Shop Supermarkets

Our Company
Park 'n Shop Supermarkets operates three full service supermarkets, all located in southern Worcester County in Massachusetts. Known in our market areas for quality, service and commitment to the communities we serve, we were established in 1918 in Webster, MA.

Our History
It all began some 70 years ago, with one man and one small grocery store. He came here from Albania, hoping to forge a new life for himself and his family here in America. It took years of hard work and perseverance and today, that one small store has become the very successful chain of Park ‘n Shop Supermarkets, owned and operated by the Pappas family. In the early 1900’s, Albanian born Alex Pappas owned a small grocery market on Pleasant Street in Webster, MA.

From the very beginning, the store was a family business. Alex’s sons, Peter and Charlie, grew up working in the store with their father, learning everything there was to know about the grocery business.

By 1950, after a couple of location changes and a name change to the present Park ‘n Shop, Charlie had gone on his own with the Dudley Park ‘n Shop branch of the chain. This quickly outgrew its building and was moved to the present location on Airport Road when that site became available.

Charlie has said, " We enjoy the close, intimate relationship between the employees and the customers. That is the way my father ran his business, and that is the way that we will carry on the tradition. We are here to serve our customers the best way we know, not just as businessmen, but as friends also.”

The company presently operates three Park ‘n Shop Supermarkets in the towns of Dudley, Auburn and Blackstone

Our Organization
Our corporate offices are located in the Dudley, MA. All administrative, payroll, accounts payable and receivable and personnel functions are handled by this office. Additionally, Charlie Pappas Sr., company president, maintains his office at this store and any matter requiring his direct attention should be routed to this office.

Our grocery buying office is located in the Dudley store. All matters having to do with grocery, DSD, produce, frozen, dairy, or health & beauty care items should be directed to Chuck Pappas in Dudley.

Our meat buying office is located in the Auburn store. Gerry Kunkel, our meat buyer, handles any questions regarding fresh meats, frozen meats, deli items, bakery items or the operations of those departments.

All our technology issues; including maintenance of this web site and MIS, are handled at our office by Dave Torrey.

Our Mission Statement
Our success is based on commitment to our customers, to the communities we serve and to our employees.

We will be known in our market areas for Quality, Service and Commitment to our Communities.

We adhere to the Golden Rule in all our relations with customers, employees, suppliers and the public - we treat others the way we want to be treated.

We provide products and services of the highest quality and the greatest possible value in our stores, gaining and holding our customer’s respect and loyalty.

We do business with customers, employees, suppliers and the community based on uncompromising honesty and integrity.

We recognize that our human resources are our company’s most important and valuable assets.

We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote employees based on their qualifications, without discrimination as to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or any other factor not related to the needs of the job.

We maintain reasonable and consistent standards of job performance, objectively reflecting these standards in decisions that affect our employee’s promotions, compensation and retention.

We endeavor to use our employees’ abilities as fully as possible by assignment to positions throughout the company into a departmental team that take into account their performance, experience, aptitude and interests.

We will provide opportunities for advancement by considering qualified employees within the company before recruiting outside.

We will maintain levels of pay that will compare favorably with prevailing rates for similar jobs in other food chains in our marketing area. While we believe individuals are primarily responsible for their own growth and development, we encourage them by providing appropriate training and development opportunities for them. We assist them in improving their current job performances, increasing their potential for promotion.

We give our employees clear and timely information about their job responsibilities and performance, and the company policies that affect them.

We continuously emphasize that the interdependence of the individual employees within the sections and departments of the store is essential to the continued success of the company.

We encourage, and appropriately recognize, constructive ideas and suggestions that result in improvement in service to customers, improvement in operations, or in any other matter relating to the success of the company.

We maintain a program of employee benefits that helps protect our employees and their families against the financial hardships of illness, death and old age, without discouraging personal planning for future security.

We believe that each employee has a right to be treated fairly and considerately by anyone in a position of authority, as well as by associates. Therefore, we take prompt, fair and considerate action on any complaint by an employee regarding any aspect of their work.

We provide and maintain a work place that is safe, healthful and efficient.