The Market Report

Alves Grocery Opened: 2001 Owner:  Maria Depina Alves Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  274 N Main St, Brockton, MA Photographed:  November 11, 2022 Where there aren't a lot of big supermarkets, small corner grocers fill the gaps. Here in northern downtown Brockton, Alves Grocery has been selling Spanish and Portuguese food in a 3000 square foot store for a little over two decades. Shortly after I visited, the small store got a new sign . The focus here seems to be on take-out prepared foods, but there are some groceries too. The only supermarket in this part of town is about 2/3 of a mile northeast, which we'll be touring tomorrow!

V&D Variety Store Opened: 2018 Owner: unknown Previous Tenants:  assorted independent grocers Cooperative:  none Location:  94 N Main St, Brockton, MA Photographed:  November 11, 2022 On the north end of downtown Brockton is this small grocer, V&D Variety, and before that, the 5000 square foot market (and laundromat) was the Day & Night Market . It appears to have been a variety of independent small stores for a very long time. Tomorrow is a similar store just to the north!

Vicente's Supermarket Opened: 2014 Owner:  Manuel Vicente Barbosa Previous Tenants:  A&P > Star Market > Shaw's Cooperative:  none Location:  160 Pleasant St, Brockton, MA Photographed:  July 6, 2019 Vicente's Supermarket started as a small international grocer here in downtown Brockton, later acquiring a supermarket on the south side of town . Then in 2014, Vicente's opened their second location -- at over 35,000 square feet, it was almost double the size of the Main Street store. Vicente's pulled out all the stops for this store, using various loans and incentive programs designed to bring supermarkets into lower-income areas that needed them. The 2014 opening was high-profile and hailed as a fundamental change to this neighborhood. This is the only supermarket in downtown Brockton. There are others just outside downtown, but as is the case with many cities, a lot of the population doesn't drive. The new Vicente's and neighboring health cente...

CM Petti Market Opened: 1913 Owner:  Matthew & Kathy Petti Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  216 Belmont St, Brockton, MA Photographed:  November 11, 2022 One of the main retail areas of Brockton is west of downtown, home to a Shaw's , an America's Food Basket , and a recently-closed Stop & Shop . A couple blocks east on Belmont Street from that cluster is this longtime grocer, a small store only 2500 square feet. It's been faithfully open for over 110 years, having opened way back in 1913 . Its main focus is the deli , but there's also a few short aisles of groceries, something a little more substantial than a convenience store but not a full supermarket. The deli and a small butcher line the back wall, with the grocery aisles opposite that. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the original wood floor! As we wander around the city of Brockton, we're now headed east of downtown to visit the other Shaw's in town. We'll the...

Vicente's Supermarket Opened: 2001 in this location Owner:  Manuel Vicente Barbosa Previous Tenants:  A&P (possible) Cooperative:  none Location:  689 Main St, Brockton, MA Photographed: July 6, 2019 and November 11, 2022 It's time for another Vicente's! The chain of international supermarkets, specializing in food from Latin America and Africa -- specifically Cape Verde, as they earn the distinction of the only Cape Verdean food store in the US -- has expanded outside their home city of Brockton, but here on Main Street, they've been selling tropical foods for decades. This store, the building of which dates back to the 1950s or so (no later than 1960), became Vicente's first supermarket in 2001 when they moved out of a smaller storefront in the northern part of the city. This is the oldest Vicente's in operation, joining that newer location in Pawtucket (opened 2021), another one in Brockton (opened 2014), a former Save-A-Lot in New Bedford (opened 202...