The Market Report

Putney Food Co-op Opened:  1992 in current location; 1941 previously Owner: cooperatively owned Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: National Co-op Grocers Location: 8 Carol Brown Way, Putney, VT Photographed: August 10, 2021 Putney is home to a food co-op like Brattleboro , but the store here in Putney is smaller at only around 7000 square feet. The food co-op opened up here in 1992, moving from its previous location on Kimball Hill where it had been in business since 1941 (it was formed to help small-town residents get food and supplies during World War II). An interesting note on the history from the co-op's website : Carol Brown was the founder of the co-op, and now, the street it's on is named after her. Despite the store's small size , it still has a kitchen, coffee shop, and small cafe. Putney doesn't have a large supermarket, so this store and the other small grocer in town fill the gap. Come back tomorrow to see that one!

Hannaford Opened: 1996 Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 896 Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT Photographed: August 10, 2021 Though this part of Brattleboro lost a supermarket when the Grand Union (and briefly the Hot Dot discount supermarket) closed in 1999, but it's possible that the Hot Dot was put out of business by this Hannaford's 1996 opening. At the very least, the opening of this 45,000 square foot supermarket didn't help business over at Hot Dot, and upon its closure, Hannaford took out full-page newspaper ads in the local paper advertising their low prices every day and welcoming former Hot Dot customers. Like the vast majority of Hannaford stores, this one has the latest decor package and seems to look quite nice inside. Up next, The Market Report heads north along the Connecticut River to Putney, about six miles away!

Original Grocery Tenant: Grand Union Address: 766 Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT Opened: 1970s Closed: 1998 Later Tenants:  Hot Dot Discount (1998-1999) Photographed: August 10, 2021 In the same mall as yesterday's ALDI is this former Grand Union. Grand Union built this store of around 33,000 square feet in the 1970s, though I haven't been able to pinpoint an exact year, and it closed in 1998 as the chain struggled. One strategy Grand Union attempted, to save their failing locations, was converting them to a discount format called Hot Dot Discount. Unfortunately, here Hot Dot only lasted a year, closing in 1999, two years before the rest of the chain declared bankruptcy. A new Hannaford had just been constructed up the street, opening in 1996, and it's possible that store put this one out of business. The space has subsequently been split up. Grand Union was headquartered just outside of Paterson, New Jersey, but had a large base of stores in upstate New York and then acr...

ALDI Opened: 2014 Owner: ALDI Sud Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: none Location: 762 Putney Rd, Brattleboro, VT Photographed: August 10, 2021 One of Brattleboro's big chain supermarkets is this ALDI, opened as a new-build store right around the time the Brattleboro Food Co-op also opened its present location. It seems to be a very straightforward ALDI of around 16,000 square feet, but the Green Mountain State only has three ALDIs (the others are in Rutland and Bennington). Tomorrow, we'll check out a former supermarket right next to this one!

Original Grocery Tenant: Brattleboro IGA Address: 23 Marlboro Rd, Brattleboro, VT Opened: 1994 Closed:  by 2009 Later Tenants: non-grocery tenants Photographed: August 13, 2021 This Dollar General just to the northwest of downtown Brattleboro was the Brattleboro IGA, opening in 1994 and closing no later than 2009. It's just under 20,000 square feet. An illustrious character named Jason Bushnell also owned an IGA in West Brattleboro for decades in the first part of the 20th century, but it doesn't look like that store was connected to this one in any way. This store is just west of Brattleboro on VT-9, the highway that runs along the southern part of Vermont from Brattleboro to Bennington, then becomes route 7 in New York and goes to the Capital Region. We'll see lots more stores on and near VT-9, but for now, we're headed north to see a couple more spots in Brattleboro!

Brattleboro Food Co-op Opened: 2012 in current location; 1975 previously Owner: cooperatively owned Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: National Co-op Grocers Location: 2 Main St, Brattleboro, VT Photographed:  August 10, 2021 The Market Report has arrived in Vermont for the first time, and what better place to do it than the Brattleboro Food Co-op! After all, it's close to familiar territory: just across the river from New Hampshire and eight miles north of the MA border. Plus, Vermont is the land of food co-ops, so this is a fitting introduction. This food co-op dates back to 1975, but like many of these New England co-ops, recently moved into a modern supermarket building. This one was actually a new-build facility right in downtown Brattleboro, and the supermarket now spans around 21,000 square feet. It's one of four supermarkets in Brattleboro, with the others (a Market 32, an ALDI, and a Hannaford) located outside of the downtown area. This one has a very helpful col...

For the first time ever, The Market Report arrives in the Green Mountain State! And unlike Maine and New Hampshire , I actually have a lot of coverage over a lot of the state. While I can't claim to have photographed every supermarket in Vermont (or even close to it), we have enough posts that our coverage of Vermont will actually take almost four months. The Market Report's first stop is in the southeastern part of the state, around the Brattleboro area. From there, we'll turn north via Putney to make our way up to Bellows Falls and White River Junction, all along the New Hampshire border. We'll circle inland via Chester, Londonderry, and a few other towns in the middle of the state before turning south again to wind up in Wilmington about halfway across the state (east-west, that is) near the MA border. Come back tomorrow to start in Brattleboro!

  Continuing the celebration of The Market Report's 10th year! Each month of 2026, I'll be posting a different special feature to celebrate my 10th year of writing this blog. There's a lot to see already, so here's a summary of what we've done so far: January: Remembering A&P February: Best of 2016-2020 March: Back in Time ( Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 ) April: Recommended Reading May: Behind the Scenes June: Best of 2021-2025 July:  Shop the City Following up on April's Recommended Reading post, here's some more recommendations. Now, I love supermarkets, but in my real life outside of this blog, I read (and write) about all kinds of food stuff, so let's step away from the world of supermarkets for a day. Here's the best of what you need to be reading food-wise outside supermarkets, plus a handful of supermarket-specific recommendations at the end. Food Journalism Okay, fair warning here: there's much more outstanding food journalism than I c...

  Continuing the celebration of The Market Report's 10th year! Each month of 2026, I'll be posting a different special feature to celebrate my 10th year of writing this blog. There's a lot to see already, so here's a summary of what we've done so far: January:  Remembering A&P February:  Best of 2016-2020 March:  Back in Time ( Day 1 ,  Day 2 ,  Day 3 ) April:  Recommended Reading May: Behind the Scenes June:  Best of 2021-2025 This is one of the most exciting special features I'm doing this year and the culmination of years' worth of work -- Shop the City is now live! This is the definitive guide to food stores in New York City. Every single supermarket (more than 1000) in all five boroughs, plus a selection of smaller grocers and history. Search by the neighborhood, the store name, the owner, the supplier, and lots more! Browse the website here... Click here to visit SHOP THE CITY! Technically, this is July's special feature, so we're goin...