The Market Report

Price Chopper Open: ca. 2000-2026 Owner: Northeast Grocery Previous Tenants:  none Later Tenants:  Market 32 (2026- ) Cooperative: none Location: 370 Munson Ave, Morrisville, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 Many small Vermont towns don't have chain supermarkets. It's only in the larger towns (or resort/vacation destinations) that you see the big-chain operators. Morrisville isn't exactly a big town, but it's one of the more major spots for retail in this part of the state. As such, it's home to both a Hannaford and a Price Chopper. Or, more accurately, it was  home to a Price Chopper. Very shortly after I took these pictures in the summer of 2025, this store was converted to a Market 32 . In fact, there's a good chance renovations were ongoing inside when I took these pictures. Here's a look inside the store prior to its renovation. It's around 53,000 square feet, almost exactly the same size as the Hannaford. Tomorrow, we continue heading west t...

The Elmore Store Opened: early 1800s Owner: unknown Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative: none Location:  1208 Montpelier Morrisville State Hwy, Lake Elmore, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 Here's an interesting, unusual setup. This general store on Lake Elmore has been continuously operating since the early 1800s. When the previous owners were preparing to retire, instead of selling the store to a new owner, it was sold to a community nonprofit. The Elmore Community Trust was established in 2020 to acquire and remodel this store, which also serves as a post office and eatery. It's now run by a third-party operator but the building is owned and maintained by the community-based nonprofit, which also has plans to do similar projects on other buildings in town. You can read a lot more about the store here and here . You can also see just a glimpse of Lake Elmore behind the store above -- Vermont is not short on gorgeous scenery, but the lake is particularly beautiful. Now,...

JJ's Country Store Opened: 2025 Owner: Stephanie Burbank and DJ Rathburn Previous Tenants: Wolcott Country Store (1983-2025) Cooperative: none Location: 4076 VT-15, Wolcott, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 Another small-town general store! This one, in Wolcott, is looking somewhat worse for the wear but came under new ownership in 2025, shortly before I photographed it in fact. Previously, the Wolcott Country Store was here from 1983 to 2025, and I don't know whether there was something else prior. The store looks to be about 4000 square feet. Tomorrow will be another general store just west of here!

Tops Friendly Markets Opened: 2013 Owner: Northeast Grocery Previous Tenants: Grand Union (closed 2001) > Grand Union Family Markets (2001-2013) Cooperative: none Location: 82 VT-15, Hardwick, VT Photographed: August 13, 2025 In addition to the longtime Buffalo Mountain Market in Hardwick, the small town has a Tops -- one of just two in Vermont. The Tops is a bit larger than Buffalo Mountain, measuring around 18,000 square feet or so, and it's actually smaller than it might look in the picture above because the right half of the building was previously a Rite Aid and then a Walgreens. This Tops was originally a Grand Union, which transitioned to Grand Union Family Markets in 2001 and sold to Tops in 2013. (You can read more about the Grand Union and the food of Hardwick in this 2011 article from NPR.) For the next several days, we'll be headed west from Hardwick on Vermont Route 15, so stay tuned for more in this area!

Happy Saturday and welcome to some major breaking news out of New York City. One Queens-based supermarket chain is taking over another as Food Bazaar has acquired 14 of Western Beef's 19 locations in New York City and on Long Island. The transition is ongoing through the end of the month, so stay tuned for more extensive coverage. I first caught wind of a potential transaction between these two chains last month, when as I posted on my news feed , Food Bazaar incorporated 14 new corporate entities on a single day -- and each appeared to correspond to a Western Beef location. Now, the official transitions started on Thursday and are continuing approximately through the end of October. This comes almost exactly two years after Food Bazaar took over four Stop & Shop stores, though I imagine that's just a coincidence. Let's take a look at the Western Beef stores for a primer on the chain, and a look at what's happening now. 1041 Prospect Ave, The Bronx Food Bazaar Opene...

Western Beef Supermarket Opened: ca. 2012 Owner: Castellana family / employee owned Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: Associated Supermarket Group Location: 2050 Webster Ave, Bronx, NY Photographed:  December 13, 2023 and October 16, 2026 As 14 of the 19 Western Beef stores transition to Food Bazaar, let's check out the Webster Avenue location in the Bronx! Western Beef actually built this store around 2012, moving from a long-since demolished location at 4269 Park Ave  about two blocks south. Most recently, Western Beef renovated it again just this year, and by the end of the month, it's scheduled to become a Food Bazaar (on October 28, to be specific). As we'll see, the recent renovation was pretty minor. Produce is on the right side with bakery in the back-right corner and dairy on the rest of the back wall. Frozen foods are towards the left side of the store, and previously, the walk-in meat cooler was on the left side. In the renovation, the refrigerated room wa...