The Market Report

Woodford General Store Opened: 2019 Owner: Ryan and Heather Hassett Previous Tenants:  Woodford Mountain General Store Cooperative: none Location: 5053 VT-9, Woodford, VT Photographed: August 9, 2021 Woodford is roughly halfway between Wilmington and Bennington on route 9. Those two towns are the ones with bigger supermarkets, but Woodford has had a general store for a long time. It's clear from the inside that this store is freshly remodeled, and that's because it's only been open under its current ownership since 2019. But prior to that, this store (under the name Woodford Mountain General Store) seems to have been in business for a long time. In fact, if you look at the outside, you can see where the "mtn" was removed (for mountain) between Woodford and General. This store is now pretty specialized, with more specialty and local items along with a deli as opposed to the grocery basics. We're about a 20 minute drive from the Wilmington Shaw's but o...

Mike & Tammy's Food Market Opened: 2006 Owner: Tammy Clough Previous Tenants:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location: 2170 N Main St, Londonderry, VT Photographed: August 12, 2021 Welcome to another Vermont general store, or at least another general store-style grocer! I don't know if this one is actually a longtime general store or just kind of feels like one, but this small grocer in Londonderry has been open since 2006. It's part small-town grocer, part ice cream shop, and part deli. This isn't the only grocer in Londonderry, though, and there's a larger supermarket just down the street. That's where The Market Report will be headed tomorrow, so come back to tour it!

Original Grocery Tenant: Buffum's Supermarket Address: 112 Rockingham St, Bellows Falls, VT Opened: between 1956 and 1962 Closed: after 1995 Later Tenants:  Rite Aid > Walgreens Photographed: August 10, 2021 Bellows Falls, Vermont is a quaint small town along the Connecticut River, where the water cuts through a gorge on the border between Vermont and New Hampshire. For decades, the town was served by an A&P supermarket (later Grand Union) as well as this independent, Buffum's Supermarket. This space is around 15,000 square feet, apparently constructed by Buffum's between 1956 and 1962, though it looks like it might've replaced an older building on the same property. From the closure of Buffum's until 2010, Bellows Falls didn't have a full-size supermarket, it seems, though there was a small corner grocer called Lisai's Red & White. In 2010, Lisai's moved into the former A&P building, and that'll be tomorrow's post! But befor...

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, ...