The Market Report

Hannaford Opened: ca. early 00s Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  469 Main St, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 16, 2019 In addition to the Main Street Grocery and the Rising Tide Co-op , Damariscotta has a big chain supermarket: a roughly 60,000 square foot Hannaford built in the early 00s. I don't know if this replaced an older Hannaford in town or in the area, but I can't find evidence of that. It's on the larger side for Hannaford, but given that we're in Hannaford's home territory here, that makes sense. I didn't go in -- Hannaford stores generally aren't that exciting -- but the inside looks both quite nice and just like every other Hannaford . Speaking of Hannaford, that's the dominant chain in this part of Maine, so check out another one about eight miles northeast here , and tomorrow, we're headed up to Rockland!

Rising Tide Co-op Opened:  2009 in current location; 1978 previously Owner:  cooperatively owned Previous Tenants:  assorted non-grocery tenants Cooperative:  National Co-op Grocers Location:  323 Main St, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 16, 2019 Damariscotta is a very small town of about 2200 people about halfway between Portland and Bangor, but even this tiny town has three full supermarkets. The local independent store is Main Street Grocery , and directly across the street from it is the Rising Tide Co-op. A Hannaford is just down the street, and we'll see that Monday. Although Rising Tide has been in business since 1978, the co-op moved into this building -- formerly a motorcycle dealership! -- in 2009. You can see in the exterior picture at the beginning of this post that it truly is directly across the street from Main Street Grocery. But the stores are very different. In New England, there's a very strong culture of community co-op grocers, a...

Main Street Grocery Opened: 2022 under current ownership; 2018 previously Owner:  Greg Snyder Previous Tenants:  Yellowfront Grocery (1990-2018) Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England (previously IGA) Location:  5 Coastal Marketplace, Damariscotta, ME Photographed:  August 10, 2019 Constructed in 1990 as the Yellowfront Grocery (with a yellow front -- or at least a partially yellow front ), this approximately 15,000 square foot supermarket became Main Street Grocery in 2018 . Local business owners Jane and Gary Gravel took over the supermarket when Yellowfront closed, then sold it again in 2022 . The new owner, Greg Snyder, has switched the store's supplier from IGA (supplied by Bozzuto's) to Associated Grocers of New England. When I visited in the summer of 2019, it was still owned by the Gravels and still an IGA member. The store isn't that old, but has an old-school, familiar feeling. You enter in the front-left corner and walk across the front to p...

Shaw's Opened:  2003 Owner:  Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants:  Ames (closed 2002) Cooperative:  none Location:  670 Bath Rd, Wiscasset, ME Photographed:  August 10, 2019 It's not hard to tell that this 45,000 square foot Shaw's was originally a department store. In fact, it was previously an Ames, which closed in 2002. The outside has since gotten a fresh paint job , and an interior renovation that finished about a year ago. This isn't the only Shaw's that's moved into a former Ames; in fact, there are several (like this one ). Tomorrow, The Market Report heads about ten miles northeast along the coast for our next stop!

Wells Super Food Market Opened: 2011 under current ownership; unknown previously Owner:  Nick and Nicki Hunter Previous Tenants:  A&P (opened 1960s) Cooperative:  IGA Location:  1517 Post Rd, Wells, ME Photographed:  June 11, 2022 and March 6, 2025 You can recognize that storefront anywhere! The green siding doesn't hide this building's past as a centennial A&P, built in the 1960s. It's an extremely small centennial, though, of just 6500 square feet, making it one of the smallest . The supermarket is now closer to 14,000 square feet, although I'm unsure exactly when that expansion happened or who was responsible for it. Today, the space is occupied by the Wells Super Food Market IGA. You enter in the front-left corner and walk across the front wall in front of the registers to produce on the right side of the front wall. Wine is in the first aisle, with meat and deli on the back wall. Frozen, dairy, and beer are on the left side. This is clearly a very ...