Hoosick Falls

The Grand Union supermarket in this rural community reopened Wednesday as a Tops Family supermarket, and the chain's president says he is looking for other opportunities in smaller communities.

Last July, the Tops chain bought 21 Grand Union supermarkets, including 11 it had owned before. The smaller-sized markets include stores in the Adirondacks and Hoosick Falls. Nine stores — six in New York and three in Vermont — officially changed their names on Tuesday. The rest will do so next month, said Frank Curci, Tops president and CEO.

The Hoosick Falls store was renovated with new decor, tiles and an updated produce department.

"We've given it a nice, fresh look," he said.

Curci said the Buffalo-based chain "loves" the upstate market and is looking for other locations. Tops is looking to open in small towns where grocery stores are needed.

"People like the convenience of being able to run in and out of a store and not deal with the very large stores, especially in smaller communities," he said.

While the chain's stores range from 10,000 to 100,000 square feet, Tops has many that are 20,000 square feet.

"We find there is much more opportunity on the smaller end of the scale," Curci said. "Most times they are the center of the community. We're very happy to be in the area. We hope to expand our presence."

The Capital Region is in the midst of a supermarket boom, with ShopRite bringing four supermarkets to the region, Whole Foods planning to open in Colonie Center, and The Fresh Market and Trader Joe's now open in different parts of Colonie. Price Chopper is creating what it says will be a next-generation supermarket in Latham.

"It's a great business," Curci said. "It's a competitive business. You can never sit still. We've expanded greatly in the last five years especially."

The Hoosick Falls store now offers Tops' "Bonus Plus" loyalty card, offering discounts to repeat customers. It is being used for a Monopoly game promotion now.

"We are a promotionally driven company," Curci said. "We always have discounts tied to it."

In other locations, Tops also sells discounted gas at its own stations, much as ShopRite does in Colonie and Albany.

"At the moment, we have no gas stations in this part of the state," Curci said. "We are actively looking at opportunities to add that."

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu