The Market Report

Market Basket Opened: ca. 1979 Owner:  DeMoulas family Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  400 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA Photographed:  February 22, 2020 Welcome to one of the very few Market Baskets in the immediate Boston area! For the chain's dominance in many of the suburbs, they have almost no presence in the more urban areas. This Somerville location is one of only three close to Boston -- the other two are in Chelsea, which we'll see shortly, and the far western side of Waltham . Market Basket doesn't have any stores within the city of Boston, and I don't know whether they ever did. Groceteria says that several Market Baskets did exist within Boston, but it's unclear to me whether they're the same company. If I'm not mistaken, this company was still called DeMoulas at the time those Market Baskets are listed. At 48,000 square feet, this store isn't exactly small. But it's definitely smaller -- and older -- than the cha...

Whole Foods Market Opened: 2013 Owner:  Amazon Previous Tenants:  Stop & Shop (1950s) > Johnnie's Foodmaster (open by 1962, closed 2012) Cooperative:  none Location:  45 Beacon St, Cambridge, MA Photographed:  February 22, 2020 One look at this Whole Foods near Inman Square can tell you it's been a supermarket for a long time. A bit of research can confirm that: it was built in the 1950s as a Stop & Shop, becoming a Johnnie's Foodmaster no later than 1962. Johnnie's closed in 2012, and several of their stores were acquired by Whole Foods . At around 15,000 square feet, this store is small for Whole Foods, but not nearly as small as that Brookline location. Yelp has a few pictures of this store as Johnnie's, including the carpeted flooring that Massachusetts supermarkets seemed to love . Like Brookline, this store got a bright-red floor when Whole Foods opened up and renovated the space. Produce is in the first aisle on the right side, with dairy at...

Broadway Marketplace Opened: ca. 1970s in this building, 1930 previously Owner:  Charlie Bougas Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  468 Broadway, Cambridge, MA Photographed:  July 21, 2019 Welcome to Broadway Marketplace, the 12,000 square foot independent supermarket just east of Harvard University in Cambridge! This store dates back to 1930, but opened in this building around 1970. It's been renovated since, but still has an old-school feel that results in a timeless feeling more than an outdated one. The attractive exterior fits in nicely with both the architecture of the neighborhood and that of Harvard itself. Inside, the store is somewhere between a specialty market and a mainstream supermarket. You enter to the grand aisle, which is front and center. Produce is right at the front, with bakery on the left side. The grocery aisles, along with dairy and frozen, are in the back-right corner, with beer and wine in the back-left corner. Meat,...

Hard though it is to believe, it's now been 9 years of The Market Report! So here's to 9 years of visiting grocery stores across the US -- 2,700+ posts, 3 million+ views, 5,000+ comments, and so much fun along the way. At least, that's what I hope, and that's why I do this. It's fun for me to write, and I hope it's been fun to read. There is so much more to come, and I can't wait to share with you all what I have. So as always, thank you so much for coming along for the ride, and stay tuned for lots more to come. And check out today's post at Wholesome Fresh in Cambridge ! Plus...  2026 is an important and exciting milestone -- it's The Market Report's 10th year. So starting in January, we'll be celebrating with a very special feature each month in addition to the regular posting. January's feature is particularly exciting, and something I've put in a lot of work to. Count down the days to January 8th, when I'll introduce it!

Wholesome Fresh Opened:  2018 Owner:  Eun Hye Yoo Previous Tenants:  Market in the Square Cooperative:  none Location:  60 Church St, Cambridge, MA Photographed:  July 21, 2019 Today's post is a look at Wholesome Fresh, a small corner grocer/bodega type store where the focus is the deli and prepared foods. It's a fairly common setup in parts of New York City, with rows of self-service hot and cold food bars in the middle and other features around the outside, usually things like a deli and grill, tossed salads, sushi, tacos, ramen, or the like. But it's not too common outside the city. Here, Wholesome Fresh is very close to Harvard's campus, so it's likely attracting college students who want something quick. The store is small, about 4000 square feet, and definitely isn't a supermarket. But although the front half has mostly grab-and-go items and prepared foods, there are a few grocery aisles in the back. The owners appear to be Korean-American, and there'...