The Market Report

And with that, we've finished Jamaica Plain. We toured three supermarkets and visited quite a few smaller stores and former grocery stores, so if you missed any, you can use the map below to navigate to that store's post. Coming Up Next From Jamaica Plain, we're headed east to Roxbury, which is as you can see the neighborhood pretty much right in the middle of Boston. Bounded on the south by Roslindale and Dorchester, Dorchester to the east also, Jamaica Plain on the west, and Longwood and the South End to the north, Roxbury is a green but urban neighborhood that's considered by the city to be "the heart of Black culture". Roughly half of the neighborhood's residents are Black, with an additional 30% or so from Latin America. And despite the name, we're several miles away from West Roxbury , a very different neighborhood. You'll see several unusual names throughout the city, such as the fact that South Boston could reasonably be described as...

Now that we've finished Jamaica Plain's main grocers, let's check out some of the small stores around the neighborhood! The majority of these are around Egleston Square on Washington Street, which is a bit of disputed territory (some might call it Jamaica Plain, others will call it Roxbury). To me, anything to the southwest of Columbus Avenue is Jamaica Plain, but the other side of the street is Roxbury. Anyway... Egleston Square Yessenia's Market Opened:  1992 Owner:  Rafael Pena Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  3348 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA Photographed: November 13, 2021 This is the farthest-south independent grocer we're seeing on Washington Street, at the corner of Green Street where we saw Green Basket . A block north is Ruggiero's .

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...

Ruggiero's Market Opened: 2014 under current ownership; ca. 1970s previously Owner:  Jay Patel Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  3345 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA Photographed:  November 13, 2021 Today we're just around the corner from Green Basket Market for a somewhat similar store, a small grocer/convenience store. Like Green Basket, it's around 4000 square feet, but there's a lot more to offer here. Incidentally, the store goes back to the 1970s but was acquired in 2014 by Jay Patel , whose family owns a variety of stores around the city. Right away, you can see the more broad offering than the dated Green Basket Market. There's a food counter on the left side of the store that serves pizza and other food. It looks like they do a good takeout business here. There's a few grocery aisles with various other selections around the perimeter. This is a combined convenience store and liquor store, but there...