The Market Report

Stop & Shop Opened: ca. late 1990s Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  none Location:  301 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA Photographed:  June 15, 2019 and July 12, 2019 Jamaica Plain has two large supermarkets, the Whole Foods just west of here and this Stop & Shop. While the Whole Foods opened up in what had previously been a longtime independent grocer, this Stop & Shop appears to have been a new-build store around the late 1990s (after 1996), though it may have replaced another store nearby. At around 40,000 square feet, it's smaller than most Stop & Shops but larger than the other grocers in the immediate area. This store was one of the latest Stop & Shops in Boston to get the recent remodels, which were completed here last spring . So although the store has been cosmetically updated since these 2019 pictures, the bones appear to be exactly the same. It looks like the renovation was largely decor. You enter to the...

Original Grocery Tenant: First National Stores (Finast) Address: 395 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA Opened:  late 1920s Closed:  late 1960s Later Tenants:  non-grocery tenants Photographed:  June 29, 2019 The corner spot of this strip of stores, just a block over from the Whole Foods we saw yesterday, was built as a First National (later Finast) supermarket. It appears to have opened as the first tenant in this building when it was constructed, in the late 1920s, and per Groceteria it was closed by the late 1960s. It's a similar setup to this former First National near Fields Corner, which amazingly is still a grocery store. Now, have a great weekend, and on Monday we're off to the big chain supermarket in Jamaica Plain just east of here!

Whole Foods Market Opened: 2011 Owner:  Amazon Previous Tenants:  Hi-Lo Foods (1964-2011) Cooperative:  none Location:  413 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA Photographed:  June 29, 2019 I mentioned in the "coming soon" section that Jamaica Plain has gentrified very significantly over the last several years, and this Whole Foods is the perfect example. As an independent called Hi-Lo Foods, the supermarket became a center of the Cuban community that lives (or, increasingly lived ) in the Hyde Square area. And naturally, its closure and replacement by Whole Foods sparked significant controversy . As for the wonderful midcentury modern exterior of the store, it's apparently original to Hi-Lo . Whole Foods has added several large murals to the building on all sides. It's a largely residential area, and this supermarket is set slightly away from the business district. You enter on the left side of the store to the produce department. Meat and seafood are in the back-lef...