The Market Report

Original Grocery Tenant: unknown Address: 1334 Water St, Fitchburg, MA Opened:  unknown Closed:  unknown Later Tenants:  Caribbean International Market (1996-ca. 2017) Photographed:  April 7, 2023 About half a mile north of yesterday's Hannaford is this former corner grocer, which operated from 1996 until about 2017 as the Caribbean International Market. The store was just 2300 square feet, and judging by the look of it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a grocer for many decades before Caribbean International Market was here. So far, it's been vacant since Caribbean International moved out. Tomorrow we're heading up towards downtown Fitchburg for a similar small store that's still in business!

Bringing back the way I did the smaller stores in Worcester, it's time for a quick roundup of some of the independent grocers in the Wachusett region! Sterling, MA Appletown Market Owner:  Mohammad Chaudry Opened:  1995 Location:  9 Main St, Sterling, MA Photographed:  November 15, 2020 This store is about 2500 square feet, and part liquor store, part convenience store, and part grocery store. Sterling doesn't have a full supermarket, so there's quite a bit of grocery stuff in this little store. And to be sure, Sterling is definitely an apple town. In the fall, you can stand in town and smell the apples in the air -- many being crushed into cider. A massive former mill in town, now called the Cider Mill Building, has been repurposed into a sprawling antique mall called Oh My Gosh . That building is located at the northern end of the Central Massachusetts Rail Trail.

Bolton Orchards Opened: 1945 Owner:  Sarah & Joel O'Toole Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England (AGNE) Location:  125 Still River Rd, Bolton, MA Photographed:  October 9, 2021 Nothing like a New England farm market in the fall! I visited Bolton Orchards back in the fall of 2021 when I was biking from Worcester to Nashua, New Hampshire one beautiful October day. For the apple-centric market, it's primetime. The store is a combination farm market and small grocery store, and is a member of Associated Grocers of New England -- no relation to the New York-based Associated Supermarket Group , or any of the other cooperatives named Associated across the country. AGNE uses Food Club, the storebrand from Topco. There's a basic selection of home goods and hardware, which makes this feel very much like a true country store (which it is). There's also a lot of specialty food items... ...and basically a full line of groceries... ...an...

Shaw's Opened: 1987 Owner:  Albertsons Companies Previous Tenants:  Iandoli Super Markets (closed 1987) Cooperative:  none Location:  1175 Main St, Clinton, MA Photographed:  October 2, 2021 Now it's time to tour the second supermarket in Clinton, after visiting the nearby Hannaford yesterday . This Shaw's dates back to 1987, when Shaw's acquired the store from Worcester-area chain Iandoli (along with multiple other locations in and around Worcester). The store these days is around 55,000 square feet, about 20,000 square feet larger than Hannaford. This store is spacious and very pleasant, if not particularly exciting since it's a fairly typical Shaw's. Like the majority of Shaw's store base, it was renovated around 2018-2020. (In 2017, it still had the previous decor package .) While the store is still a bit bland decor and design-wise, it looks like from pictures the previous decor was pretty beige too. We enter to a very wide grand aisle, with produce t...

Hannaford Opened: 2004 Owner:  Ahold Delhaize Previous Tenants:  Victory Markets (ca. 1950s-2004) Cooperative:  none Location:  333 Brook St, Clinton, MA Photographed:  October 2, 2021 Just like so many other towns positioned right on a water source, Clinton was long a mill town, and many of those mill buildings still exist . Clinton is located at the northern end of the Wachusett Reservoir, on the Nashua River, and with a population of 15,000, it's one of the larger towns in northern Worcester County (excluding, of course, Fitchburg and Leominster, where we're headed next). As with the other Hannaford supermarkets in the Worcester County area, this store was built around the 1950s as a Victory Market, becoming a Hannaford when they acquired the chain in 2004. The store these days, which has been expanded, is around 35,000 square feet, much smaller than its competitor to the north, a Shaw's of around 55,000 square feet. We'll be there tomorrow. This store recei...