Rail City Market - St Albans, VT

Rail City Market

Opened: ca. 1990s

Owner: Ashley Cleare

Previous Tenants: unknown

Cooperative: none

Location: 8 S Main St, St Albans, VT

Photographed: August 12, 2025

Welcome to downtown Saint Albans City! Between the city and the surrounding town, Saint Albans has around 14,000 people, making it one of the larger municipalities in the area (we're about 25 miles north of Burlington here and just 50 miles south of Montreal). In the middle of town is the Rail City Market, named after the city's railroad heritage, and it's a small specialty grocery store and gift shop. In other words, not a spot to fill a shopping cart, but worth a stop for unusual items.

Rail City Market has been in business since the 1990s or so, but we can tell this is a historical building that's been beautifully preserved. In terms of other food options, Saint Albans also has a Hannaford and a Market 32, but both are north of town. Here in downtown, there's a small independent supermarket that we'll tour tomorrow.

It looks like this space is possibly made up of what were two separate storefronts previously. The food is on the left side, with gifts and nonfoods on the right side.

A large part of what this store offers is bulk foods, such as spices and grains. Jars of spices line the left side wall, with bins of bulk grains in the middle.

And on the other side, you'll find things like candles, cards, and jewelry.

I love the look of this store, with the big windows, the historic ceiling, and the brick walls. Now, it's time to sign off for the day, and tomorrow we'll take a look at the bigger supermarket just down the street!