Açougue do João Butcher & Grocery Store Opened: 2018 Owner: João Assis Previous Tenants: Alexander's Supermarket > Rent-A-Center Cooperative: none Location: 1653 Middlesex St, Lowell, MA Photographed: August 23, 2025 We're going to see one more grocer in the far western part of Lowell, near the border of North Chelmsford . If you haven't seen my posts on the Wood Street Market Basket and Apna Bazar yet, make sure to check them out. Now we're off from India to Brazil. Get your boarding pass ready. Okay, before we travel to Brazil (metaphorically, of course), let's focus on this building a bit. It sure looks like an old chain supermarket, doesn't it? That's because it is. The building was originally an Alexander's Supermarket, a New Hampshire-based chain that Hannaford eventually acquired. It looks like this store closed at some point before Hannaford acquired the chain, but they did get locations in Chelmsford and Dracut, which we'll b...
Apna Bazar Farmers Market Opened: 2023 Owner: Jaswinder Singh and Dipak Bhardwaj Previous Tenants: CVS Cooperative: none Location: 1815 Middlesex St, Lowell, MA Photographed: August 23, 2025 There's been so many stores we've seen that are drugstores converted to supermarkets, but most are in the New York metro area . Apna Bazar has made its home in a former CVS here in Lowell, though, taking up 10,000 square feet of space vacated when CVS moved into the Market Basket strip mall across the street. In a way, it makes sense though, because Indian grocer chain Apna Bazar originated in the New York City area. That's where most of their stores are, but three are here in Massachusetts, Woburn (opened 2022), Norwood (opened around 2017), and Lowell (opened 2023). You enter on the left side of the store to a very well-stocked produce department in the first aisle. Bulk rice and grains are on the back wall, with dairy in the back half of the first aisle and froz...