The 60,694-square-foot store at 215 East Main Street had a grocer in it for decades. Stop & Shop closed it for good on October 29. The company first planned to stay until sometime in late 2026. The Connecticut Scoop reported the closing plan in December 2025, and the end date was later set as October 29.
Clinton still has a supermarket, and it's on the other side of town. The Big Y on Killingworth Turnpike now does a job the town used to split between two roads. Meanwhile, East Main Street faces a winter with an empty Stop & Shop and a construction site across Route 1. The center of Clinton's grocery shopping has moved north toward the I-95 interchange, and some of it may move back when Aldi opens on East Main in 2027 or later.
The Turnpike Already Had the Supermarket
Big Y #110 at 23 Killingworth Turnpike is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. The store lists deli, bakery, fresh seafood and butcher departments, so the full weekly order fits in one stop. It anchors Indian Rivers Shops, and that plaza is still adding businesses.
Patch, citing The Connecticut Scoop, reported in mid-October that new buildings for a Panera Bread and a Chase Bank were going up at the 11 Killingworth Turnpike plaza. The Panera will have 2,800 square feet and a drive-thru. Its building has another 6,407 square feet available for lease, and Chase will take 3,300 square feet next door. No opening date has been announced for either one.
That one stretch of road is starting to cover a full week of errands:
- Big Y, 23 Killingworth Turnpike: groceries, deli, bakery, seafood and meat, open daily
- Indian Rivers Shops, 11 Killingworth Turnpike: Panera with a drive-thru and a Chase branch under construction, plus open space still available to lease
- Clinton Premium Outlets, 20 Killingworth Turnpike: an Old Navy outlet planned for 2027 in the former Saks Off 5th space, with no opening date released
Not every business on the turnpike has lasted. Chow Food and Beverage at 36 Killingworth Turnpike closed in August after 10 years, according to Patch. The national names have been growing around the supermarket, though, and the only full grocery store left in town is there too.
East Main Street Gets a Hardware Store Before It Gets Groceries Back
The Stop & Shop plaza had already started changing before the grocer left. TJ Maxx closed its Clinton store on August 18, 2025, and opened a new one at Guilford Commons, 1919 Boston Post Road, that same week, Patch reported.
Steward's Ace Hardware is taking the TJ Maxx space. In March, The Connecticut Scoop reported that Ace would move from Liberty Square at 114 East Main Street into about 25,000 square feet at 215 East Main Street, with an opening expected this fall. Patch was still describing the move as upcoming in August. Check with the store before you go for paint or furnace filters.
That leaves the plaza's largest space empty. Stop & Shop's statement to Patch gave this reason:
"Last year, Stop & Shop announced the difficult decision not to renew the lease for our store located at 215 East Main Street in Clinton, CT as the store was not meeting financial expectations."
The company said its employees could transfer to other Stop & Shop locations. As of August, national retailers had shown interest in the 60,694 square feet, but no deal was final and the space was still on the market. Patch pointed to the Stop & Shops in Madison and Old Saybrook as the nearest locations of the same chain.
The Aldi Across the Street Has Two Different Timelines
East Main Street's next grocery store is going up across the road at 224 East Main Street, next to Walgreens. The Connecticut Scoop reported in July that the Planning and Zoning Commission had approved a special exception and a coastal site plan for the project.
The Commission's July 13, 2026 minutes describe the plan in detail:
- Three existing buildings on the site will be demolished.
- A 20,664-square-foot Aldi will be built with 95 parking spaces.
- A 6,000-square-foot commercial building is planned later on the east side of the lot.
- The driveway onto Route 1 will become one-way eastbound for both entering and exiting because it sits close to the traffic signal. The change followed early feedback from the Department of Transportation.
- The existing access from the Walgreens parking lot will stay.
The fourth item will matter every week once the store opens. Drivers won't be able to turn left into or out of the lot from Route 1 the way two-way driveways usually allow, so the Walgreens lot becomes the other way in.
The opening date is less certain. By early August, demolition had started, and The Connecticut Scoop reported that Aldi planned to open in early 2027. The same July minutes say the project's traffic study assumed an opening in 2028. Those dates are far enough apart to cover one winter without an East Main grocery store or two.
The new store will also be much smaller. At 20,664 square feet, it's about a third the size of the store that just closed across the street. When Aldi's plans were first reported in April, no tenant had been named for the second building. Aldi will bring groceries back to East Main Street, but at a much smaller scale than before, and the 60,694 square feet across Route 1 will still need a tenant.
What Still Works Between the Two Roads
Several smaller stops are still open on Main Street, and with the supermarket gone, they cover more of the in-between trips.
Saldamarco's Deli at 86 East Main Street has a butcher on site, imported specialties, Italian deli foods, baked goods and organic produce. Its posted fall and winter hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday, so it works for a daytime stop but not after work. The page doesn't show an update date, so call ahead before a holiday-week order.
For milk, bread and a prescription on the same trip, CVS at 17 West Main Street lists quick snacks and groceries and accepts SNAP. Walgreens at 218 East Main Street sells cereal, soda and snacks. It's also next door to the future Aldi, so the same corner should become a larger shopping stop once that store opens.
The seasonal option is closed until next summer. The Clinton Farmers' Market at 61 East Main Street ran on Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. between June 19 and August 28 this year.
West Main Street is losing a coffee stop too. Patch reported that Cafe Nola at 10 West Main Street was set to close on November 1.
The Winter Errand Map, Stop by Stop
Here's how a typical November week of errands lays out in Clinton now:
- The big weekly shop: Big Y at 23 Killingworth Turnpike, open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
- Meat, cold cuts and Italian specialties: Saldamarco's at 86 East Main Street before 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday
- Pharmacy plus basic groceries: CVS at 17 West Main Street or Walgreens at 218 East Main Street
- Hardware: Steward's Ace, which is moving from 114 East Main Street to 215 East Main Street, with the new store expected this fall
- Same chain as before: the Stop & Shops in Madison and Old Saybrook
- Still coming: Panera and Chase at 11 Killingworth Turnpike with no dates announced, Old Navy at the outlets in 2027, and Aldi at 224 East Main Street in early 2027 per the latest report, or 2028 per the traffic study
Until Aldi opens or someone leases the empty Stop & Shop, a full weekly grocery run in Clinton means a trip to Killingworth Turnpike.
Homes near East Main Street and near the turnpike are going through the same changes, just at different speeds. If you own on either side of town and want to know how buyers read the new errand map, Jules G. Etes can show you what your home is worth today and what could change once the empty storefronts fill. Request a free home valuation.
