George Clinton Shaw originally opened a small grocery retail space in Portland, Miane in 1860. This small store sought to offer a collection of food items that were not commonly available in the area. In 1919, the George C. Shaw company would be purchased by another grocer entrepreneur by the name of Maynard A. Davis. Maynard managed his personal chain of stores, Brockton Public Markets (BPM), and the Shaw market stores as separate entities. The Shaw chain of stores would grow steadily for the next hundred years.  

Shaw's parent company, Supervalu Inc., eventually sold the retailer in January of 2013 to Cerberus Capital Management. In July of 2013, the chain announced they were closing a total of six stores throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The 280 Winthrop street store in Taunton was one of the locations ordered to shutter for business. 

The Shaw's supermarket building was built in 2002 and U-Haul acquired the property in 2017. Adaptive reuse building conversions allow U-Haul to promote infill development to meet citizens’ needs while preserving the natural resources and land normally required for new construction. Adaptive reuse also allows resources to be focused on integrating environmentally thoughtful features into the existing building rather than creating waste in the form of demolition and using valuable resources for new construction. 

Serving U-Haul customers since 2017, this facility was built through adaptive reuse of an abandoned building. Adaptive reuse promotes infill development in an effort to strengthen communities, with the following benefits achieved at this site: 

• 1,702 tons of metal manufacturing & transportation prevented 
• 6,926 tons of new concrete pours avoided 
• 8,716 tons of construction and demolition debris prevented 

Energy-efficiency and waste-reduction programs at this facility provide the following estimated benefits each year for the Taunton community: 

• 9,616,750 lbs greenhouse gas emissions prevented 

• 

  Steel Production 1,702 tons (1,544 tonnes) of steel manufacturing and delivery saved to date

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  Concrete 6,926 tons (6,285 tonnes) of new concrete pours avoided to date

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  Emissions 9,616,750 lbs (4,362,129 kgs) of greenhouse gas emissions prevented

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  Landfill Debris 8,716 lbs (3,954 kgs) of construction debris prevented

• U-Haul Moving & Storage of Taunton
• Taunton shoppers bid farewell to Shaw’s supermarket on Winthrop Street
• Shaw's Main Webpage