John Edward's Market - Ellsworth, ME

John Edward's Market

Opened: 1971

Owner: John Pouwels

Previous Tenants: First National (opened ca. 1940)

Cooperative: none

Location: 158 Main St, Ellsworth, ME

Photographed: June 17, 2022

Ellsworth is the larger town in this area, roughly between the Blue Hill Peninsula and Mount Desert Island. So this town actually has three full supermarkets, and today The Market Report tours the small independent store right downtown!

John Edward's Market has been here since the 70s, but one look at the exterior will tell you this building has been a store for much longer than that. In fact, First National Stores (Finast) opened up here around 1940. These days, the roughly 6,000 square foot space is a natural food and specialty store.

Wine is in the front-left corner, with produce just behind that on the left side of the store. Also in the first aisle is frozen food and, in a first for me, a service counter where a clerk fills your container with bulk herbs and spices.  Health and beauty items are on the right side, with a selection of natural supplements and the like.

Some really unusual produce cases here, and I wonder if they either were custom made for this natural market or are left over from a long-ago Finast setup.

Frozen foods are behind produce and wine in the first aisle.

At this counter, a clerk weighs out the exact amount of herbs or spices you want. I've seen bulk spice departments before (common in some natural food stores), but never a service counter setup like this. This is the only service department in the store.

More bulk items in the grocery aisle, though pre-packaged...

This is a pretty specialized store, I'm sure because it's on the small side and it's not worth competing with the two big-chain supermarkets in town. Instead, the smart business model is to do something completely different.

Vitamins and supplements on the right side of the store...

Tomorrow, The Market Report travels just outside of downtown Ellsworth for a look at one of the two big-chain supermarkets!