Look Inside: Roxie's Market - Quincy, MA

Roxie's Market
Opened: 1960s here; 1957 previously

Owner: Alan and Edward Rubin

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: none

Location: 479 Southern Artery, Quincy, MA

Photographed: August 4, 2019

There's nothing like a beloved independent grocer going strong for decades despite a big-chain supermarket right across the street. That's what's happening here at Southern Artery and McGrath Highway in Quincy, where a 72,000 square foot Stop & Shop competes with a tiny butcher shop and grocer of about a tenth of that size. Actually, Roxie's and Stop & Shop have been here for about the same amount of time, with Stop & Shop having been constructed in the 1950s and Roxie's here since 1960.

In a 2015 article, the local paper credits the store's popularity to its personal service and low prices, which one of the owners says is possible because of their volume. The small, old-school store's main draw is its butcher, but there's also a deli and some basic groceries.

The service departments line the outside of the store, with seafood, deli, and butcher counters. Rows of packaged meat and some simple groceries are in the middle, and produce and dairy are on the outside.

I love these cases with the bright red and yellow! Sure, the interior is old-school -- there aren't that many places that sell hamburg in the area anymore -- local slang for ground beef -- but it's also clear it's been impeccably maintained.

The registers line the front wall. The store is small but mighty and, as you can probably tell from these pictures, was very busy when I visited.

There's another small independent grocer just about a mile east out on Adams Shore, which faces the Quincy Bay (seven miles across the bay is Logan Airport). We're headed out there tomorrow!