Rising Tide Co-op - Damariscotta, ME

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, and while we've only seen a handful so far, I've photographed at least a dozen more in the northeast, mostly in VT and NH.

At only around 10,000 square feet, this store is smaller than Main Street Grocery and of course, more specialized, focusing on natural and local foods. (As you can see in the pictures so far, the produce here was absolutely gorgeous, and that'll become a trend as we see more co-op stores in New England that sell lots of local produce grown in this area.)

As a member of National Co-op Grocers, Rising Tide primarily sells Field Day products from UNFI.

Produce and a large herb and spice department (sold mostly in bulk) are here in the first aisle, with dairy and refrigerated items on the back wall.

Speaking of bulk, here's the large bulk department in one of the grocery aisles. It looks like this area was previously the motorcycle dealer's repair shop.

Meat and grab-and-go prepared foods in the back here, too.

You can see some Field Day products on the shelves above.

Frozen foods in the last aisle. I like this decor, which is understated but colorful.

No service deli here, but there is an in-store kitchen with prepared foods, both grab-and-go and self-serve food bars.

There's also fresh baked goods, both made in-store and made locally. As you can see, there's some more premium selections here compared to the mainstream stores in town.

I also like the skylights, which make the store feel open and bright.

A large wellness selection separates the grocery aisles from the front-end.

And as you can clearly see here, there's definitely a demand for this store here in town! (In fact, I remember the store being quite busy when I visited.) Of course, I was also here in the tourist season -- I say that like I was not also a tourist -- but given that it's a community-owned co-op, I'm sure there's a connection to the town year-round. Tour Main Street Grocery here, and I'll see you on Monday for a look at the third supermarket in town!