Tradewinds Marketplace - Blue Hill, ME

Tradewinds Marketplace
Open: 1999-2023

Owner: Belinda and Chuck Lawrence

Previous Tenants: none

Later Tenants: Hannaford (2023- )

Cooperative: none; supplied by Hannaford

Location: 15 South St, Blue Hill, ME

Photographed: June 14, 2022

Blue Hill is one of the larger towns on the Blue Hill Peninsula, and we can tell that from the number of grocery stores in town. Today, there are two supermarkets, but a smaller general store/market recently closed in the middle of town. Like Merrill & Hinckley, Tradewinds Marketplace also closed in 2023, but this one isn't gone forever -- the owners retired and sold the independent grocer to Hannaford, which had supplied Tradewinds. Hannaford did some light remodeling on the inside -- here's a look -- but by and large the store seems to be very similar to when I photographed it back in the summer of 2022. Let's go in!

Our tour begins in the front-right corner with a Made in Maine department with an abundance of local products, including small refrigerated and frozen sections. (Given that chains like Hannaford often don't have this level of local charm, I do wonder what happened to this section in the transition.)

Produce is on the right side of the store, with deli and bakery at the back of the produce department. Meat and seafood counters are on the back wall, with meats lining the rest of the back of the store. At the front between produce and the checkouts is a natural foods department -- since Hannaford seems to be removing dedicated natural foods sections in remodels, I don't know whether that's still there -- with a wine shop in the grocery aisles opposite. There's a beer cave in the back-left corner, with frozen and dairy on the left side of the store and a pharmacy in the front-left corner.

As you can see in these pictures, the store was slightly dated cosmetically, but far from neglected. It was in great shape and had an interesting, unusual mix of products with a lot of local options.

Deli-bakery and seafood at the back of the produce department...

There's an interesting setup for seafood here, with a combination of a very small service counter and mostly packaged items. Most Hannafords I've been to have full-service seafood departments, so I don't know if they changed this.

Here's a look at natural foods at the front, next to produce...

The natural food department is (was?) branded Nature's Place, which was the pre-merger Delhaize natural foods brand. Now, Ahold Delhaize uses the Ahold brand, Nature's Promise.

And opposite that is a large wine shop in the first few grocery aisles.

Other Tradewinds stores are still open, as they're independently owned. They are also supplied by Hannaford.

Beer in the back-left corner, including a walk-in beer cooler.

As you can see, many of the fixtures here had been replaced over time. This store was built from the ground-up in 1999, so it's not all that old overall.

HABA in the last aisle.

This store totals only around 30,000 square feet, but it feels very large because it's very full-service. That includes a pharmacy, which Hannaford kept.

And a look across the front-end, once again showing the Nature's Place department and the produce section behind it...

Blue Hill's main supermarket might be a big-chain store now, but there's still an independent grocer in town. Come back here tomorrow to check it out!