The Market Report

French & Brawn Marketplace Opened: 1868 Owner:  Todd Anderson Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  1 Elm St, Camden, ME Photographed:  August 11, 2019 Welcome to quaint downtown Camden! This small waterfront city has a Hannaford just outside of town , but right in town is the French & Brawn Marketplace. This grocer actually dates all the way back to 1868, and the store is only about 2500 square feet at the main intersection of the town. You can tell from the wonderful exterior that this store has been here for many decades! Actually, more than a century. The store faces Elm Street, the main street in town, with a side entrance in the back to the deli and butcher area. Heading in, we can tell the store is very old-school but wonderfully preserved and a really nice, small town supermarket. Produce is in the front-right corner, with frozen foods in the rest of the first aisle. Deli and butcher are in the back c...

  Continuing the celebration of The Market Report's 10th year! Each month of 2026, I'll be posting a different special feature to celebrate my 10th year of writing this blog. Last month, we took a look at my  favorite posts of 2016-2020 , and in January, we investigated the  history of A&P and its other brands . This month, let's spend some more time on the past with a look at some memorabilia today along with yesterday's historical photos . Tomorrow is one more day of memorabilia! A&P This was a particularly exciting find at an antique store in Gloucester, MA. This tin was sold for $2.99 at A&P's 125th anniversary in 1984. Seeing this, it wasn't a hard decision to make this part of my own collection. The tin depicts a ca. 1912 A&P store, and I love the images around the tin. On the back, you get a look inside the store at that time. And here's some more information from the bottom of the tin. If you're interested in all things A&P, d...