The Market Report

Jeannotte's Market Opened:  2000 under current ownership; 1899 previously Owner: Glynn Bingham Previous Tenants:  none Cooperative: Associated Grocers of New England Location: 2 Courtland St, Nashua, NH Photographed: October 10, 2021 One look at Jeanotte's Market makes it pretty clear that, although the store has a fresh new sign out front, it's not a new store. That's because it actually dates back to 1899, though it was taken over by the current owner in 2000. You can read a lot more about the history of the store on its own website here . At only around 2700 square feet, this is definitely closer to a general store than a full supermarket, but there's a surprising range of groceries available inside -- and locals' favorite Italian subs. The store's interior is old-school but kept up meticulously, with the famous deli at the back. They're a member of Associated Grocers of New England, and use Food Club items as a storebrand. Before heading into dow...

Himalayas General Store Opened: 2012 Owner: Radhika Acharya Previous Tenants: non-grocery tenants Cooperative: none Location: 359 Elm St, Manchester, NH Photographed: January 8, 2025 How familiar are you with Bhutanese food? Scratch that, how familiar are you with Bhutan? The tiny Himalayan country isn't particularly well-known here in the west, but there are small pockets of Bhutanese communities in New York and Montana. Queens, NY is home to America's only dedicated Bhutanese grocery store, but here in Manchester, a Bhutanese-American immigrant has opened the small Himalayas General Store with foods from various Himalayan countries. There's just a few aisles here, and the focus is on packaged foods (probably ones that will keep for longer, as even though there's a small Himalayan community here, it's not enough to support a full-size supermarket). Let's face it, Manchester isn't exactly the metropolis that New York City is, though its population is ...

Heritage Corner Market Opened: ca. 2015 Owner:  unknown Previous Tenants:  Northwood Country Market (closed ca. 2015) Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  1380 1st New Hampshire Tpk, Northwood, NH Photographed:  January 8, 2025 Just down the street from the Hannaford in Northwood is the Heritage Corner Market, which sits somewhere between being a full supermarket and a convenience store. It's definitely set up like a convenience store, but features a deli, a butcher, and a produce department along with grocery staples and the grab-and-go items you'd expect in a convenience store. It bears more resemblance to the general stores we saw recently in Maine, for instance, than either a typical c-store or a full supermarket. This store is around 7,000 square feet and attached to the Heritage True Value hardware store. As you can tell, Heritage Corner Market is relatively new, having been either built or extensively renovated around 2015. Previou...

Gardiner Food Co-op Open: 2015-2023 Owner:  cooperatively owned Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  269 Water St, Gardiner, ME Photographed:  June 18, 2022 Today, we're rounding out the week with a quick look inside the Gardiner Food Co-op. While we've seen a lot of food co-ops across New England , some of which are substantial and full supermarkets, this one was a small store. It only measured about 2200 square feet but was right on the main street here in Gardiner. Unfortunately, it closed after just a relatively short tenure, opening in 2015 and closing in 2023. My pictures here are from the summer of 2022. The grocery store focused on natural foods and also had a small cafe. The member-owners of this store voted to close due to financial problems, they said in a sad and heartfelt Facebook post . It's always sad to see an independent grocer closing, and particularly one that's cooperatively owned because it was a team effort to keep the ...

Northern Bay Market Opened: 1985 Owner:  Jamie MacNair Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  177 Southern Bay Rd, Penobscot, ME Photographed:  June 11, 2022 and June 13, 2022 Despite the fact that we're starting to get pretty far north -- Penobscot is farther north than some parts of Canada, such as Toronto, and it's less than 100 miles from the Maine border with Canada -- this still isn't the extremely remote parts of Maine. We're only about 25 miles from Bangor here in Penobscot, a very small town where the Bagaduce River meets the Northern Bay on the Blue Hill Peninsula. The only grocer in town, though, is a small general store (and gas station) called the Northern Bay Market. Like T&C Market , some seriously old-school gas pumps here! Between the Keep Smiling chalkboard and the seafood one, yes, we're definitely in small-town New England! The Northern Bay Market has been open under its current ownership since 1985, but it's abundantly...

T&C Market Open:  2014-2025 Owner:  Todd Tobey Previous Tenants:  unknown Later Tenants:  Auxford - The Market / Castine Market (2025- ) Cooperative:  Associated Grocers of New England Location:  12 Water St, Castine, ME Photographed:  June 14, 2022 We arrive at The Market Report's first stop on the Blue Hill Peninsula, Castine! It's a sleepy waterfront town of around 1300 people, and is served by one grocery store. Like several of the stores we've seen so far in Maine, it's not quite a full supermarket and is more of a general store. Also like several others, it doubles as a gas station. (In fact, it's the only gas station in town.) With some great old-fashioned pumps, no less! The roughly 3500 square foot grocer was T&C Market from 2014 to 2025, when it changed ownership and is now called Auxford - The Market (or Castine Market ). Not sure what it was prior to T&C. The interior is set up more like a convenience store than a supermarket, ...

Tozier's Family Markets Opened: 1967 Owner:  Dale Tozier Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  127 Main St, Bucksport, ME Photographed:  June 13, 2022 Bucksport is The Market Report's final stop in this region of Maine. The craggy coastline has numerous peninsulas and islands here, so almost 50 miles south of Bucksport, you'll still be finding small islands like Isle Au Haut and Vinalhaven. Our next stop along the coastline will be primarily focused on those islands and peninsulas. But first, let's check out the small grocer here in Bucksport! This is the last remaining Tozier's, whose other locations closed back in 2024. At just 2500 square feet, this store -- closer to a general store than a supermarket -- is a quarter of the size of the Searsport location. The store has a few grocery aisles that run side to side, along with beer and wine. There's also a small deli. Not a full supermarket, but definitely all the essentials. In addition to ...

Lincolnville Center General Store Open:  mid 1800s-2024 Owner:  Briar Lyons Previous Tenants:  none Later Tenants:  Owen's General Store Cooperative:  none Location:  269 Main St, Lincolnville, ME Photographed:  August 15, 2019 We're kind of out here in the country in this part of Maine, although it's far from the most remote area. But that means this is general store country. The Lincolnville Center General Store opened around the mid-1800s, and I took some pictures in 2019. Five years later, it was sold and rebranded as Owen's General Store (it's still open under that name today). This upscale general store was actually acquired about 20 years ago by Briar Lyons, the wife of drummer John Fishman of the band Phish . There's a little bit of everything here, including a bulk department, some local produce, and a cafe in the back with some really good homemade pizza. The basics and some higher-end items populate the shelves. Once again, we're not exactly...