The Market Report

Crosby's Marketplace Opened: ca. early 2000s Owner:  Chris Crosby Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  15 Walnut Rd, Hamilton, MA Photographed:  May 14, 2022 The Market Report's second-to-last stop in the Salem area is the Crosby's Marketplace here in South Hamilton! A pleasant, attractive store of just 14,000 square feet, this Crosby's is tucked away in the back of a strip mall behind the Hamilton/Wenham train station. Unfortunately, my knowledge of the history here is very limited and I can't find much information in my usual sources, so any wisdom anyone has to share would be helpful. Crosby's opened at some point between 1980 and 2006 (looks like closer to 2006 than 1980), but the building dates back to at least the 1960s. You enter the store to the grand aisle on the right side, with produce up in the front and deli-prepared foods behind that, along with seafood and bakery. The meat department is in the back...

Original Grocery Tenant:  Elm Farm Food Stores Address: 426 Essex St, Salem, MA Opened:  by 1965 Closed:  by 1970 Later Tenants:  Giant Value Discount Foods (open by 1970, closed 1988 or 1989) > Crosby's Marketplace (open by 1989, closed 2000 or 2001) > CVS (2002- ) Photographed:  May 20, 2025 Just west of downtown Salem, Elm Farm Food Stores opened this 15,000 square foot supermarket in the early 1960s, no later than 1965. By 1970, it had become a Giant Value Discount Foods, which then became a Crosby's Marketplace in 1988 or 1989. Crosby's stuck around here until late 2000 or 2001, and a new CVS opened up in the space in 2002. Now, a couple interesting things here. First off, the Elm Farm to Giant Value progression is actually a familiar one: a supermarket in Boston's Mission Hill was originally an Elm Farms, later a Giant Value. It looks like both of those might have been cooperatives or franchises, so it's possible ownership didn't change during tha...

Crosby's Marketplace Opened:  late 1990s Owner:  Chris Crosby Previous Tenants:  Penni's Market (closed 1995) Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  118 Washington St, Marblehead, MA Photographed:  July 14, 2019 Here in Marblehead's Historic District, a quaint New England downtown street is hiding a surprise: a full-service supermarket tucked away behind (and under) the main business district. Crosby's Marketplace opened in downtown Marblehead in the late 1990s in a newly-built building behind, and at a lower level than, the main downtown strip. But there's an interesting history here that goes beyond the current 15,000 square foot supermarket. For decades, actually since the early 1900s, Penni's Market was located at 120 Washington Street in Marblehead. The store was originally a full-service grocer, later becoming a self-service supermarket and expanding out the back, facing a parking lot. By the 1990s (or possibly earlier), the smal...

Crosby's Marketplace Opened: unknown Owner:  Chris Crosby Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  211 Sudbury Rd, Concord, MA Photographed:  May 11, 2023 Yesterday we saw the Concord Market just north of downtown Concord, which is a smaller gourmet market. Now we're here to check out the supermarket in Concord, which is Crosby's Marketplace. It's a roughly 20,000 square foot outpost of a local chain (we'll see a couple more Crosby's once we're northeast of Boston, too). As for this building, it was constructed around 1960 -- the hardware store to the left was added later -- and it almost looks like a centennial A&P, but there are some notable differences. Check out the exterior of this store for comparison. I don't know what it originally was, and I can't find any records online of what it would've been. We enter roughly in the middle of the storefront (another difference from A&P centennia...