Buddies Groceries - Oakland, ME

Buddies Groceries
Opened: 1992

Owner: Shane and Bud Savage

Previous Tenants: unknown

Cooperative: IGA

Location: 43 Main St, Oakland, ME

Photographed: August 12, 2019

I love the look of these old-school street front stores in small towns! Once again, I'm not too certain on the history of this building, but Buddies Groceries has been occupying the approximately 9,000 square foot space since 1992. They're an IGA member.

The first aisle is on the right side of the store, with beer on the outside wall along with some dairy. Meat and deli line the back wall with the rest of dairy and produce in the last aisle on the left side. Frozen foods are in the front-left corner.

It's a small store, but complete (there's even a small in-store kitchen that makes prepared foods).

This store is obviously on the older side, but like many small-town independent grocers, kept up nicely.

IGA stores in New England (and parts of the mid-Atlantic) are supplied by Bozzuto's and use Food Club and Full Circle brand products. I took these pictures before Bozzuto's mostly switched away from the IGA brand in favor of those, so you'll still see some IGA products on the shelves. I believe certain items are still under the IGA name, but the majority have been switched over.

This store isn't far outside of Waterville, but it's complete enough that it probably saves a lot of Oakland residents the trip to the Shaw's or Hannaford stores over there.

And a look at the front-end. Again, you can tell this is an old-school store, and a very small one.

While I don't have much information on the history here, we do have a clue from these shopping carts -- this store was once a ShurFine, a now-defunct cooperative similar to IGA. I don't know whether that was the same owners as Buddies or previous owners.

Tomorrow, we'll be headed to the south to visit another independent grocer!