The Market Report

  The Market Report is moving into southern-central New Hampshire, with a look at the areas surrounding Manchester, Hillsborough, and Keene! Once again, this isn't an area I have a lot of coverage of, so it'll be rather brief. We begin in Hooksett, just north of Manchester, then make stops in Manchester and Bedford. From there, we'll head west via Hillsborough to Keene. Come back on Monday for a look at our first store!

Shaw's Opened: ca. 1993 Owner: Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: none Location: 10 Benning St, West Lebanon, NH Photographed: May 22, 2025 You can tell from the fresh coat of paint on this Shaw's that it's been relatively recently renovated. Until late 2024 or early 2025, it had the fairly cheap Premium Fresh & Healthy 3.0 decor before getting a thorough if not exciting remodel finishing slightly before I visited in May 2025. The decor was replaced along with the flooring, lighting, and many of the fixtures. The grand aisle is on the left side of the 53,000 square foot store, with produce in the front part and deli in the back along with service meat and seafood. Meat and dairy line the rest of the back wall, with frozen, the rest of dairy, and beer/wine on the right side. Bakery is in the front-right corner, and it doesn't look like this location ever had a pharmacy (as until recently, a Rite Aid was also in the strip mall). This store...

Shaw's Opened: ca. 2000 Owner: Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants: none Cooperative:  none Location: 1400 Lakeshore Dr, Gilford, NH Photographed: August 16, 2025 This exterior gives us a clue as to this Shaw's history, as it's a variation on the early-00s exterior common for Shaw's. Historic aerial photos date this particular location to around 2000, likely replacing an older store elsewhere in town. This store lost its pharmacy between 2018 and 2022, and until very recently had the Premium Fresh & Healthy 1.0 decor (see inside here ). A remodel just wrapped up here, though. There's a Hannaford directly across the street and a Walmart next door. These stores are all practically on the shore of the Paugus Bay, but across Gilford is the better-known Lake Winnipesaukee (which is also much larger). We have one more Shaw's to see in central NH before we move south, so come back tomorrow to visit one right near the Vermont border!

Laconia Spa Opened:  1925 Owner: Ricky & Patty Patel Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 65 Church St, Laconia, NH Photographed: August 16, 2025 This might be a spa, but don't picture hot tubs and massages. Spa is a now mostly obsolete term for a small grocer in New England parlance. This 2600 square foot store goes all the way back to 1925, though it closed in 2010 before reopening under new owners the following year. The classic grocery store is right at the edge of downtown, on the water . Here it's a small river, running out from the south end of Opechee Bay. We're going to head to the other side of Opechee and nearby Paugus Bay to visit a supermarket in the next town over tomorrow!

Vista Foods Opened:  unknown Owner: Associated Grocers of New England Previous Tenants: unknown; possibly Shaw's Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location: 376 S Main St, Laconia, NH Photographed: August 16, 2025 This roughly 23,000 square foot supermarket is today under the Vista Foods brand, owned by Associated Grocers of New England, but I suspect it may have previously been a Shaw's. There was a Shaw's here in Laconia at one time, but I haven't been able to track down the address (and there no longer is one in town, with the nearest one now being to the north in Gilford). The exterior was remodeled around 2010, and I don't recognize the previous facade clearly enough as a definitive former Shaw's look that I can say that for sure. Any info? Today, the store is old-school but complete, with produce in the front-right corner and deli-bakery lining the right side wall. Meat and dairy are on the back wall, with frozen foods and beer/wine on t...

Sunflower Natural Foods Opened: 1992 in current location; 1985 previously Owner: Paul Flynn Previous Tenants: unknown Cooperative: none Location: 390 S Main St, Laconia, NH Photographed: August 16, 2025 Downtown Laconia has two grocers, and they're actually right next to each other. This small natural foods store called Sunflower Natural Foods (no relation to the similarly-named store in New York ) is just next door to the supermarket, Vista Foods, which you can tour here . This store has been around since the 1980s, and in this roughly 3500 square foot building since 1992. Tomorrow, we move on to see another small grocer here in Laconia!

Save A Lot Opened: 2018 Owner: unknown Previous Tenants: none Cooperative: none/Key Food Stores(?) Location: 200 Central Ave, Orange, NJ Photographed: June 22, 2026 Welcome back to Save A Lot here in Orange! This store opened back in 2018 as part of a push into North Jersey, along with stores in Newark, Linden, and Hillside. Hard to say whether that initial push waas a success, but these days, only this store and Newark remain Save A Lots. Linden closed, and Hillside became a SuperFresh . Let's go back and take a closer look at these stores. So, over the past few years, Save A Lot has switched from corporate-owned stores to a fully franchise model, and it looks like that was when Linden closed. Orange and Hillside were both sold to the same owner around 2021, who ran the stores poorly and sold them again in 2023. Newark, Orange, and Hillside at that point were all redone and reset to become full supermarkets rather than limited-assortment discount stores, so when Hillside sw...